Specify JDK for Maven to use

I am trying to build a Hudson plugin I've modified and it requires jdk1.6. This is fine, but I don't see how I can tell maven where the different jdk is. I've found few mentions on the internet but they don't seem to apply to me. Some suggest adding some config to `.m2/settings.xml` but I don't have a `settings.xml`. Plus, I don't want to use 1.6 for all maven builds. One kink is I am using `mvn` in cygwin, if that matters at all. It appears I should be able to make the specification in the project pom file, but the existing pom is pretty bare. So bottom line is, is there a way to specify a jdk for a single invocation of maven?