Flavor Profile
For their Tom Cat Gin, Vermont-based Caledonia Spirits takes their Barr Hill Gin and rests it in New American Oak barrels.
The gin itself is a rather simple gin whose ingredients work to great effect. It starts with grain neutral spirit. It adds only juniper as a botanical. It is then sweetened with raw honey. That’s it.
The sweetening invokes an old style of gin known as “Old Tom” wherein gin was sweetened. Traditionally this adulteration was performed because the distilling equipment of the time wasn’t capable of making the clean, truly neutral grain spirits that we are familiar with today. The flavor of the base was— to be charitable— not always great. Therefore distillers used botanicals, sweetening or whatever else they could to make it palatable.
Fortunately, in the 21st century and in the case of Tom Cat Gin, this is no longer true. Tom Cat Gin is made with high quality modern products and the use of sweetening and barrels are done purely for the effect and flavor.
We are reviewing Tom Cat Gin, Batch 2.
Tasting Notes
Color: Deep amber
Aroma: The juniper is bold on the nose. Bright and coniferous, it has resinous spruce character as well, with hints of tannic oak and cedar plank.
Unusually, after all that time in a new barrel the juniper is almost more prominent than it is in their unaged Barr Hill Gin.
Flavor: Moderately sweet, with a buckwheat honey flavor, the juniper is creamy and piney. Hints of orange butter, pine blossom, vanilla, butterscotch and toffee all emerge.
Chilled: If you chill it in the freezer, the honey adds a creamy, thick viscousness. It envelops the tongue and almost has a light dessert sauce flavor. The cold does mute some the juniper however.
Tasted in 2019.
Cocktails
Tom Cat Gin is a tough mixer, even for an aged gin. While a dash of cardamom bitters can help transform it into an excellent Aged Gin Old Fashioned— my favorite is the Alexandria.
I prefer Tom Cat Gin simply neat or on the rocks.
Overall, Tom Cat Gin
Beautiful, rich and flavorful. Juniper and honey star—Caledonia Spirits’ Tom Cat Gin is one of the most delicious creations that the Aged Gin explosion have given us.
Highly Recommended.
Awards
I’m Rob from Long Island, I try to look up instructions on how to make a gin Alexandria and nothing comes up. How do you make it and what’s needed. Thanks.
The recipe is in Aaron Knoll’s book on Aged Gin Cocktails.
Going off the 5-star review here, I bought a bottle of Tom Cat.
I think this one’s going to be a bit divisive: Some are going to love it, others are going to hate it. I’d rate it 4 stars–very good, but a niche product.
It definitely has a nice Juniper backbone, but that’s where the “traditional” gin ends and the Old Tom takes over. There are a lot of spice notes (contrary to the flavor profile provided by the author above), including strong cloves, ginger, and white pepper. There’s also a substantial vanilla note, and a little honey as well. There is a bitter note in the finish that’s a little off-putting, but overall it’s quite enjoyable for sipping.
As far as cocktails, I found it worked very well in the Martinez:
2-oz Tom Cat
3/4-oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica Formula)
1/4-oz maraschino (Luxardo)
1 dash aromatic bitters (Angostura)
Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass
Lemon peel garnish, oils expressed over the liquid