Herno Old Tom Gin Hernö, 50cl

Product Information

Finish: A floral sweetness combined with woody spice and long lasting juniper characterizes Hernö Old Tom Gin. Lemon peel coats the tongue with fresh, piney juniper in tow, and a lovely floral embrace from the meadowsweet.

Hernö Old Tom Gin is made from the same distilled gin as Hernö Gin, but with an extra amount of Meadowsweet added in the distillation and after diluting it down to 43%, a touch of sugar is added. Most of Hernö’s gins come from the same recipe and the only one that differs in the core range is the Old Tom. Hernö Old Tom Gin is made from the same distilled gin as Hernö Gin, but with an extra amount of Meadowsweet added in the distillation and after diluting it down to 43% we add a touch of sugar.Herno Old Tom Gin is made with the same botanicals as the standard, but with extra meadowsweet to impart extra sweetness. I’m a gin lover, but have yet to really explore the Old Tom style in much detail, I have to say that this is lovely.

Hernö Gin was founded by Jon Hillgren in 2011, but the story of the distillery can be traced back to London in 1999. Their flagship London Dry gin was released in 2012 and there are now several expressions in the range, including a navy strength and the focus of this review, an Old Tom. This spirit leaves a floral sweetness combined with woody spice and a long-lasting taste of juniper. According to the legend, when a penny was placed in the cats mouth the gin was served by the bartender in the pub through a tube hidden in one of the paws.

They’ve also dabbled in successful collaborations with Australian distillery Four Pillars, releasing Dry Island and Botany Bay. It’s got a cat’s face on the bottle, harking back to how Old Tom Gin got its name – the tom cat-shaped plaques outside London gin houses from the olden days, where you’d put a coin in the cat’s mouth and the bartender would dispense a shot of gin from the cat’s paw. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.

It’s quite transportational and takes me to the remote fields and forests of Dala, and the distillery’s home. According to the legend, when a penny was placed in the cat’s mouth the gin was served through a tube hidden in one of the paws. When established, Hernö was Sweden’s first gin-only distillery and they’ve been at the cutting edge of the country’s gin scene ever since – one which has come on leaps and bounds. I tried it in numerous tonics and it just works so well in them all – even full sugar tonics didn’t bring too much sweetness, such is the beautiful balance of the gin. Produced to the almost same recipe as Herno`s excellent dry gin, their sweetened Old Tom sees the addition of a hint of extra Meadowsweet.With a sip, the sweetness of the Old Tom is apparent, but it’s only a step up from what I’d expect from some dry gins.