OUR BARREL RESTED GIN IS THE CAT’S PAJAMAS!
Distilled with over 20 botanicals and then barrel-aged in French oak, the popular Old Tom Gin from our Distiller’s Workshop collection is now part of our permanent line of spirits. And, with a fancy new label! 

Distilled and aged in-house
New Deal Old Tom Gin is pot-distilled in-house from 100% grain. Juniper, rose petal, citrus, and orris root add depth and texture. Each small batch ages in Oregon wine barrels, developing warm, toasted notes and an amber color. Our Old Tom Gin is just lightly sweetened in the traditional style.

Platinum medal winner!
We’re proud to announce that New Deal Old Tom Gin was awarded the best-in-class Platinum Medal in Sip Magazine’s 2021 Best of the Northwest spirits competition. 

What is Old Tom Gin? There are no exact rules but Old Tom is a gin that is often barrel aged and lightly sweetened. Before the advent of the column still, spirits were often much cruder and it was common to add sweetening agents to make them more palatable. And palatable this gin was indeed! Before London Dry Gin stole the show, Old Tom Gin was the gin of choice in 18th century England. In fact, it was so popular that it led to a gin craze that was seen as problematic in the eyes of the government. Several prohibitive laws were passed to slow consumption but this only drove the gin scene underground.

How did Old Tom Gin get its name? Well, like the history of many cocktails and spirits, nobody knows the exact answer but there are several theories. Some think an old tom cat fell into a vat of gin. Yikes. Others say that two men named Tom worked at a distillery, one young and one old, and that Old Tom was the one that invented this style of gin. The most fun theory seems to center around a wooden cat. Since gin was nearly outlawed, pubs secretly selling this ‘mothers ruin’ would alert interested parties to its availability by putting a wooden plaque of a cat outside their building. After a coin was deposited through a slot in the wall, the bartender would slyly pour a shot through a pipe out to the patron. This is the story we like to believe.

Enjoy it on ice with an orange twist or in a number of classic Old Tom cocktails.