Old Tom 的詞源

1807年，“杜松子酒；杜松子酒的拟人化。”在较早的用法中可以指任何杜松子酒，但后来特指一种传统的甜杜松子酒，是伦敦干型杜松子酒的前身。

这个名字的原因不清楚。1807年的用法来自一首关于“Old Tom”的滑稽歌曲，他是“Peg Juniper”的儿子，当他死后，被放进一个桶里，桶被用来盛杜松子酒。

In a barrel so round then a cock was put in,

And some have since call'd the contents of it gin;

But this we know the liquid therefrom

Is that cure for the cholic, the juice of Old Tom!

["Old Tom," Ashburner's New Vocal and Poetic Respository, 1807.]

无法确定这首歌是否创造了这个术语，或者它是否引用了一个已经在使用的术语。一年后出版的一本讽刺书中也包含了一个拟人化的Old Tom，在一个关于“振奋他精神”的双关故事中。

一个经常被重复的解释是，这种杜松子酒之所以这样命名，是因为它曾经是从猫形状的分配器中提供的，在这种情况下，tom就像在tomcat中一样。虽然很少有证据表明这是一种普遍的做法，但它确实出现在18世纪的一本传记中。

[I] purchased in Moorfields the Sign of a Cat, and had it nailed to a Street Window; I then caused a Leaden Pipe, the small End out about an Inch, to be placed under the Paw of the Cat; the End that was within had a Funnel to it.

When my House was ready for Business, I enquired what Distiller in London was most famous for good Gin, and was assured by several, that it was Mr. L---dale in Holbourn: [...] When the Liquor was properly disposed, I got a Person to inform a few of the Mob, that Gin would be sold by the Cat at my Window next Day, provided they put the Money in its Mouth, from whence there was a Hole that conveyed it to me. At Night I took Possession of my Den, and got up early next Morning to be ready for Custom; it was near three Hours before any body called, which made me almost despair of the Project; at last I heard the Chink of Money, and a comfortable Voice say, “Puss, give me two Pennyworth of Gin.” I instantly put my Mouth to the Tube and bid them receive it from the Pipe under her Paw, and then measured and poured it into the Funnel, from whence they soon received it. […] People used to resort to me in such Numbers that my Neighbours could scarcely get in or out of their Houses. [Dudley Bradstreet, The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Capt. Dudley Bradstreet, 1755.]

另一个理论是，它是以伦敦的一位杜松子酒商，Thomas Chamberlain的名字命名的，他在1800年左右为他最喜欢的顾客保留了一批特别的杜松子酒，因此“Old Tom's gin”是特别优质的杜松子酒。这种词源解释出现在1860年代。