Rochester, N.Y.’s Black Button Distilling will launch its hand-crafted, limited-edition Lilac Gin on Friday, May 12, to commemorate the first day of Rochester’s annual Lilac Festival and mark the start of the spring season.

This is the third straight spring that Black Button has released Lilac Gin, following the success of the first limited edition Lilac Gin release in 2015. The inaugural run of 600 bottles of the gin, which pays tribute to Rochester’s botanical heritage as “The Flower City,” sold out in just 10 days. This year, Black Button Distilling has made nearly 4,000 bottles of Lilac Gin. They will be delivered to more than 100 accounts across three states.

“Lilac Gin showcases our unique ability to create small batch seasonal spirits that are unique to our region,” says Jason Barrett, Black Button Distilling owner/head distiller. “We have received overwhelming feedback from accounts all over the country about our Lilac Gin, and if we could produce it year round, we would. But we have to use the flowers at the peak of their bloom—which we can’t do all year.”

Lilac Gin, made from locally sourced ingredients, is also a nod to the flour mills of old, which gave rise to the local distilling industry. Crafting a gin with flower petals, the distillers say, is a painstaking process that results in a soft subtle flavor and a smooth, easy to drink gin