Northern Irish Boatyard launches Old Tom Gin

Boatyard Double Gin in Northern Ireland has launched a limited edition Old Tom Gin, the first of its kind to be made in Ireland. The unique gin is aged in first-fill bourbon barrels from Kentucky.

The aged spirits are then sweetened with Fermanagh honey to give the gin a distinctive Old Tom flavour. A London Dry that's slightly drier than the traditional Dutch Jenever, Old Tom is sometimes called "the missing link".

Boatyard award-winning gin was launched by Joe McGirr, who has vast experience in the industry, in 2016 and is distilled near Enniskillen in county Fermanagh. The distillery is based in a former boat house overlooking picturesque Lough Erne.

Mr McGirr, commenting on the new gin, says: "Old Tom Gin was a gin recipe popular in 18th-century England, where the illegal, home-made, harsh gins of the time were sweetened with liquorice or sugar to make them more palatable to the masses. In modern times, it became rare but has experienced a resurgence in the 'Craft Cocktail' movement.

"The name Old Tom Gin purportedly came from wooden plaques shaped like a black cat mounted on the outside wall of some pubs in 18th century England. Under the cat's paw sign was a slot to put money in and a lead tube. From the tube would come a shot of gin, poured by the bartender inside the pub," he adds.

Boatyard Old Tom Gin (46%ABV) will be available in distinctive 70cl bottles before the end of September at RRP £49.

Boatyard Double Gin, the first product to be launched by the Boatyard Distillery last year, is described as "a smooth, juniper-led dry gin, with notes of citrus crush and floral sweetness.


The company uses a double contact technique for the gin that results in an even more pronounced juniper flavour. The collected spirit is infused and distilled with carefully selected, organic botanicals which include 'sweet gale', a wild growing botanical foraged from Mr McGirr's family farm in Fermanagh.

The distillery began producing its double gin a year ago and has also announced plans to produce the first Irish whiskey in Fermanagh in over a century. It also plans to launch a vodka later in the year.