Hayman's Old Tom Gin is the new version of the old-style gin. Old Tom was a predecessor of the now-ubiquitous London Dry style. Early gin was sweetened to hide harsh impurities.

 Folklore has it that Old Tom gin would be served through a hole in the wall under a wooden plaque of a black cat .The customer would put his coin in the cat's mouth and receive a shot of gin through a tube between its paws.