The Westcott Bay Ciderworks and San Juan Island Distillery are welcoming the new summer season with tastings of seasonal nettle gin and pommeau.

Pommeau is a blend of the ciderworks’ award-winning hard cider and the distillery’s apple brandy with fresh apple juice, then briefly aged in oak barrels.  The result is a complex layering of sweet, fruity, and sharp all at once.

Nettle gin is the latest seasonal variation of the island-inspired “Spy Hop” gin.  The hand-harvested early spring stinging nettles add a sweet grassy flavor to the already-amazing aromas and taste to the gin.

To celebrate these two new offerings and the first anniversary of the distillery, the distillery and ciderworks will both be open for tastings from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

Nestled near the shores of Westcott Bay, just around the bend from Roche Harbor, the orchard yields over a dozen varieties of antique apples to be washed and pressed into award-winning Westcott Bay Cider. And the distillery concentrates the alcohols into Eau de Vie, liqueurs, fruit brandies and gins – all tapping into the flavors that make the island so unique.

For more info, visit www.sanjuanislanddistillery.com or www.westcottbaycider.com.