This was awesome! Loved the cider tasting! The owners were really knowledgeable and friendly. It was fun and interesting! I was on vacation with my mom, and neither of us are big fans of gin, but what the heck! We tried the gin too. Not for us, but it was fun to try. I highly recommend stopping to check it out! read more

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If I could give this distillery 10 stars, I would! The owners are the sweetest people and very knowledgeable about the beautiful products that they make! Can't say enough good things about them and their amazing products read more

Dropped in for a tasting (available Fridays and Saturdays) since I was in the area for a wedding. Here's my analysis: Cider: five stars Gin: five stars Service: five stars I'm no expert at math but I think that's a five star average. Bonus tip: they fire a mini canon when you buy a bottle of the signature gin. read more

San Juan Island Distillery - copper still being used - Distilleries Near Me - Friday Harbor, Washington

Amazing distillery nestled into the Roche Harbor area. The people are super friendly and the products are well crafted. What a unique and special place! read more

We swung in here on a Friday afternoon and were not disappointed, after getting recommendations from some Seattle and Tacoma friends who loved it! While the hours are limited, we emailed on a Friday to see if anyone was around and they were, so we walked right over from Roche Harbor Resort. The owners were there and were lovely to talk to and gave us a quick intro to cider and tastes of their three types (the dry was overwhelmingly the favorite and we all learned a bit!), followed by some quick gin tasting. We ended up walking away with a bottle of the dry cider that disappeared before we hit the road and a bottle of gin that came home with us and will be a lovely reminder of our visit. read more

What a great experience visiting this labor of love in Friday Harbor. Tastings take place on Sat or Sun only so be sure to plan your trip accordingly. What these guys do with a small apple orchard is truly amazing. The variety of gins and cider is just wonderful, as well as the many liqueurs they make. Once you finish the main tasting with the grand master distiller who educates you in a humorous way, you move outside to one of three bars manned by expert drink mixologist to continue tasting the many varieties of gin, vodka and liqueurs they have. It's a fantastic experience that leaves you wishing this small local distillery sold its product in your hometown! Good news is you can buy a couple of bottles on the spot to take home! read more

Well, if you are out riding on the island and happen to try a free tasting... beware the Spy Hop gin. The owner is delightful and will drop it off at your lodging or campground... but, please know that it has overwhelming notes of soap and lavender. It does not mix well and will ruin your other high end liquors, etc. try instead their brandy, which is great. read more

This is a must do item when visiting the islands and their offerings are splendid. The unique and refined flavors available in their spirits will lift yours! The proprietors, Suzy and Hawk, are possibly the most interesting people I've ever met. They are hosts to the -enth enth degree! Elegant cocktails begin and end with SJD Gin and syrups. Any mixologist would weep! read more

Absolutely worth it! The people here are so passionate about what they do and everything we tasted was absolutely fantastic. Some of the things for sale are very expensive, but the cider is not, and when you consider the time spent distilling some of these things (5 years for their first batch of apple brandy) the cost is understandable. If you are staying in San Juan, this is a must see. read more

They have incredible gin here. I will even go far as to say it was the best gin I have ever had. I am kicking myself that I didn't buy a large bottle to bring back with me. I came away with a small bottle, and when I had it at home I was blown away all over again. I felt like I was doing the gin a disservice by putting it in a cocktail. Gin that you can, and want, to drink straight is damn fine gin. Don't make my mistake. Go there, and buy a large bottle. Or two. I live in California and to my knowledge there is no way I can get a hold of it here. :( read more

This place is awesome!! We stayed about half a mile away for Memorial Day weekend and looked up things to do, found this place and decided to walk here on a sunny Sunday! So glad we decided to make a trip. Instantly greeted with excellent customer service and a warm welcome. We started with a tasting of their 4 ciders then had a tasting of their gins, bitters and liqueurs. We all left with a few bottles. Highly recommend the trip! read more

San Juan Island Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Friday Harbor, Washington

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Uh, it's AMAZING! YOU HAVE TO GO HERE! If you like cider and spirits, local and better than you've ever tasted them, this is the place for you. Nicest folks to boot. I'm not a gin drinker, until now. Spy Hop gin is out of this world, make of apple spirits (from the backyard orchard) instead of grain. A few local flavor give it an out-of-this-world kick, lightly floral, light on the juniper, and a little mild spice. Awesome. Cider is better than you knew it could be. We happened to have another brand sitting at the campsite, and it literally was a COMPLETELY different beverage. Like night and day. PBR vs. Fin du Monde. The tasting was one of the best parts of the short vacation, apple spirits, people! Get with it! Try the Pommeau. Try the Pommeau. Buy the Pommeau! GO HERE GO HERE GO HERE! Island experience, in a bottle! Thanks for listening! read more

If I could give 4.5 stars, I would. Because the owner was so kind and knowledgeable, I rounded up! Tasting was free, and the cider was good and reasonably priced. The gin was probably the best I've ever had. To top it all off, everything had a really cool local vibe, and the owners were unbelievably friendly. My two negatives are there were not a lot of cider options to try, and the gin was pretty expensive. Hence the 4.5 stars. Still, if you've got an hour or so to kill, I would definitely recommend this place. read more

What a little gem on San Juan Island. The owners are delightful and super informative on their gin and cider making process. Really enjoyed our tasting and went home with a few purchase as well. read more

One of my favorite gins, Spy Hop, is made here. Well worth the price. Unique flavor from herbs and spices on the island. Email to make a purchase Monday-Friday. Great customer service. read more

This little San Juan Island distillery is a family owned small town distillery that is simply delightful. They do a personal tour, which is more like an individualized mini class on their cider and cider in general. They know their ciders and have a small little set up with free tastings of their ciders and gins! They also are in the works of making whiskey. What a great place to stop by if you are at Roche Harbor! read more

Super fun tasting, starting with ciders and concluding with the stronger stuff. The place is relatively small, but that's fine by me. They take groups into the cider area first then do the gin outside. We were a little confused how to do a tasting at first but just asked the cashier who said to wait until the last group was done with the cider then take their place. They're excellent tasting guides and we enjoyed our visit. Purchased a gin infused with nettles, so delicious with tonic. They have an impressive assortment of booze, and a gift shop with a cool nautical flask! read more

While staying on San Juan Island our group took in a tasting on their ciders and distillery goods. Everyone was incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. We brought back quite a collection of their ciders, gin and liquors. An easy recommendation and must-do while on the Island. read more

My family spent Thanksgiving week on San Juan Island. When researching things to do I doscovered San Juan island Distillery. We walked in and the tasting room was full, but everyone gave us a strange look. We quickly discovered that they weren't really open and the room was full of family picking up items for the holiday. The owners told us to come on in and was tasted all three of their hard ciders. Then they took us outside to taste the gin and all of the spirits. We loved everything so much that they shipped us a case of hard cider, some gin and several of their liqueurs. We have an annual Merry martini party and I designed all of the martinis based upon San Juan's spirits. Ever single cocktail was a hit. The men at the party especially liked the Christmas Pig that I paired with some homemade candied bacon. We will definitely be back the next time we visit the island. read more

So great!! We raced up there after our whale watching trip because we knew they closed at 4 and didn't want to keep them. Luckily it's a pretty small operation. The staff is SO friendly and welcoming, and they made sure that we tasted everything we wanted to taste and answered all of our questions! We are ex-food service industry folks, so we were very interested in the distilling process and all of the different versions of the gin and how they would work in cocktails. Ciders were soooo good. It was difficult to decide what to take home, but we eventually settled on the signature gin. I absolutely love the label and while we will be savoring the gin as long as we can, I will definitely be keeping the bottle FOREVER! What a great experience. We highly recommend it!! read more

I'm personally not a gin drinker but enjoyed the experience at the distillery. Everyone was so kind and friendly. It turned out being one of the best parts of my Friday Harbor trip. BTW they also have a cider tasking that I really enjoyed. read more

Tucked behind a beautiful marina is a gem of a distillery! I was resigned to not getting to visit as we arrived to the island Sunday at 3, but with a few California stops we made it just in the nick of time and had the opportunity to try the three ciders, wonderful, interesting and very informative! I so appreciated the information and learning. The Gins were fantastic and fragrant. It was so hard to choose but the lavender and rose brandy was irresistible and I'm going to mourn the bottom of that bottle. They were all smiles as we kept them Past their closing time to allow us to taste a few more! Thank you so much! It was a wonderful start to a lovely Sunday evening! read more

I'd say more, but there's no more to be said. This place is awesome. A local treasure. Great people, great cider, amazing gin. The location couldn't be better. Suzy and Hawk and the gang do wonderful things in a wonderful place. We ended up getting as much gin as we could carry back in our luggage. Totally worth a stop. read more

We discovered the San Juan Distillery over the Thanksgiving holiday of 2015 and were totally wowed! The owners are so nice and Suzy knows her gin! We stayed on Orcas this year for Thanksgiving, but made a day trip over to San Juan especially to introduce my inlaws to the distillery and they were equally impressed. The Pommeau is fantastic, the Spy Hop Citrus Gin absolutely amazing, and ALL of the ciders something truly special. A terrific place. read more

Not very friendly. If you are expecting a decent tasting or tour, forget it. Too many other great things on this island. This is a small 'fruit stand' with a crabby woman who doesn't smile or acknowledge your presence when you arrive at her window, then informs you that you need an appointment, they are only open limited hours. OK, fine so we made an appointment for the next day. There's a pretty large orchard and grass next to their fruit stand. We looked at a few of the bottles (pictured on their website) and thought it was a gem of a find maybe, and the labels sounded yummy but the prices were crazy high. We were vacationing with 12 family members, 3 vehicles and trying to coordinate all our activities, so it was no small feat to return the next day for our appointment. We had been charging around the island doing as much as possible, so we had purchased some deli-sandwiches for the kids to eat while we did our tasting. We only had one car with 3 adults and 2 kids. We were a few minutes early so we parked on the grass with the other cars, and got out and sat on the grass to eat our sandwiches. My (adult) daughter walked up to the booth to tell the lady we were there, just a little early and just wanted to let them know. The lady was rude and told my daughter and son-in-law that we couldn't sit on the grass and eat. We would have to stay in our car. This is way out in the country and this was a field!!! We thought she was kidding. She was not. We did not feel welcome. No other customers were there. It was unbelievable. read more