Scofflaw Old Tom Gin

Our love of all things gin and all things cocktail has kept us busy over the past year as we cooked up some collaborative hooch with North Shore Distillery. After months of trials and tribulations (ask us about getting FDA-approval on a gin label some time), we’ve let the cat out of the bag and the gin out of the distillery with the announcement and party for our Old Tom Gin release.

Join us this Sunday, from 5pm-2am, when we’ll shake you up a Tom Collins (or two or three) and sling you a steaming bowl of Old Tom Gin-soaked mussels with fancy frites ($8 and $12, respectively). 

From Time Out:
 
Before gin-focused bar Scofflaw even opened, its partners approached North Shore Distillery, the Lake Bluff company acclaimed for its distinctive gins, about making its own version of Scofflaw’s signature spirit. After nearly a year of testing and refining, the final product is officially released this week: an Old Tom gin, a sweetened, rounder style made by only a few other producers and less popular than the sharper London Dry category. “There was a hole we could definitely fill,” says North Shore’s Sonja Kassebaum. In order to make this version better suited to mixing in cocktails, Scofflaw Old Tom Gin has a higher proof (90) than its cohorts, and is made from a unique combination of botanicals, including juniper, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, anise seed, citrus peels and—“the key element,” according to Scofflaw head bartender Danny Shapiro—osthmanthus blossoms, a tea that gives it “its distinct floral note,” per Kassebaum. “I hate to use this word,” hedges Shapiro, but “it’s really luscious.” Scofflaw Old Tom Gin will be released Sunday 10 at 5pm at Scofflaw (3201 W Armitage Ave, 773-252-9700). Taste it anytime thereafter as a shot ($6) or in a Tom Collins or Martinez cocktail ($8), or purchase it for $35/bottle.