Introducing the Daily Sip, our day-to-day suggestions for how to spend your waking hours in the world of libations, from juice and tea to wine, beer and more.
SPIRIT FRIDAYS: San Juan Island Distillery Spy Hop Harvest Select Gin
San Juan Island is home to both Westcott Bay Cider and San Juan Island Distillery, the co-owned artisan operation that is fueled by a 14-year-old estate apple orchard outside of Roche Harbor. As Washington’s second oldest cidery, the distillery portion is able to produce apple brandies and gin from the orchard, including the Spy Hop Harvest Select Gin. This selection sources the usual suspects to produce the gin but also draws from island specific botanicals like elderberry, madrone bark and lavender to give it its matching and unique aroma and flavor profile. However, the kicker is that the alcohol is derived directly from apples on the plantation so the fruit component of the typically herbal spirit allows an accessible semi-sweetness to the gin. The aromas paint a picture abundant in the above mentioned sources from the island, creating the desire to plant yourself in it with a glass of this quaffable gin in hand.
