The Old Tom Gets a Blush: House of Botanicals' Raspberry Gin
Old Tom gin has a reputation for being the quiet, slightly old-fashioned cousin of London Dry — a touch sweeter, a touch softer, built for an era before tonic water ruled the drinks cabinet. House of Botanicals, working out of a small batch operation in Aberdeen, took that old-fashioned foundation and did something rather lovely with it: they handed it a punnet of Scottish raspberries and a pinch of Moroccan saffron.
The base is classic Old Tom through and through — juniper berries, angelica root, orris root, coriander seed, cassia bark, almond, orange peel and lemon peel, distilled the traditional way. Where it breaks from tradition is what happens next: seasonal raspberries are compounded into the spirit alongside that signature touch of saffron, then rounded off with a light sweetening of cane sugar. The result pours with a soft, natural blush colour and drinks exactly as it looks — juniper-led at its core, with ripe raspberry sweetness and a faint saffron warmth threading through the finish. It's fruit-forward without ever tipping into dessert-gin territory, which is a harder balance to strike than it sounds.
It's also a genuinely flexible bottle behind the bar. Keep things simple with a good tonic and a few fresh raspberries dropped in, or let it lead in a raspberry-forward twist on a Clover Club or a French 75 — the Old Tom base and natural sweetness mean it needs very little dressing up to shine. Bottled at a confident 47% ABV, it holds its own in a cocktail shaker as easily as it does in a long, easy summer drink.
The judges have taken notice too: a Bronze at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, and a feature in The Gin Guide's Spirit of Gin Awards, sit quietly behind a bottle that doesn't need to shout about either. As a gift, it's an easy one to get right — hand-bottled in Aberdeen, distinctive enough to stand out from the usual London Dry lineup, and pretty enough in the glass to make an impression before anyone's even taken a sip. We've just two bottles left from this small-batch run, so if a raspberry Old Tom with a bit of saffron intrigue sounds like your kind of gin, this is the week to bring one home.
