Productions
Gin / Fernet / Bësk / Absinthe / Chicago
Original Label GIN
Few gins unfold likeLetherbee’s flagship tipple, distilled by hand with a clean yet robust blend of 11 botanicals. Juniper spearheads a mélange of spices, including coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon, while cubeb berries evoke a touch of pepper and a hint of ginger in the finish. Lemon and orange peel lend the dry, balanced concoction a bit of room for keen drinkers to pick up subtle notes of licorice and almond. At 96 proof,Letherbee Gin shines in all contexts, whether sipped straight, louched with a few drops of water until slightly cloudy, or mixed in a cocktail.
750ml
Besk
Letherbee unites with R. Franklin for a refined rendition of BËSK —a relatively obscure yet locally infamous Swedish liqueur dominated by wormwood. The bitter shot initially hits with flavors of grapefruit before an oncoming of wormwood alongside earthy gentian root — an effect that lingers on the palate for quite a surprising while. Beneath the acrid din of the more acute tasting notes rests more gentle traces of juniper, star anise, and elderflower musk. Bottled at 100 proof, Letherbee’s BËSK remains an esoteric shot for adventurous drinkers, but the bitter liqueur can be gracefully incorporated into sophisticated cocktails.
750ml
ABSINTHE
Letherbee’s Barrel-Aged Absinthe draws its caramel hue from a six-month stint in new, full-sized, charred, American oak casks. A straightforward white absinthe recipe mellows in the aging process, softening the anise notes to let sumptuous floral and spice layers resonate. Besides the color, the full-sized barrels also imbue the Absinthe Brun with toasty hints of vanilla and caramel. Bottled at 126 proof, the spirit-forward drink is an addictive sipper that can also add depth to a variety of cocktails.
375ml
Fernet
Letherbee’s freshly refined take on the signature digestif is smooth, perhaps startlingly so. The prominence of saffron evokes popular Fernets, but supporting notes of rhubarb root and myrrh gum scaffold the palate as to not let bitter notes overpower. Spearmint and eucalyptus lend a subtle, pleasant mentholated finish. Given Letherbee’s penchant for balanced flavors, thisFernet is versatile—shoot it, sip it after a meal, add it to coffee, or mix it in a complex cocktail.
750ml
ORIGINAL LABEL GIN
Few gins unfold likeLetherbee’s flagship tipple — a Chicago-made, grain-neutral spirit distilled by hand with a clean yet robust blend of 11 botanicals. Juniper berries spearhead a mélange of spices, including coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon, while cubeb berries evoke a touch of pepper and a hit of ginger in the finish. Dried lemon peel and orange pith lend the dry, balanced concoction a bit of room for keen drinkers to pick up subtle notes of licorice and almond. At 96 proof, Letherbee Gin shines in all contexts, whether sipped straight, louched with a few drops of water until slightly cloudy, or mixed in a refined cocktail.
200ml
BESK
Letherbee unites with R. Franklin for a refined rendition of BËSK —a relatively obscure yet locally infamous Swedish liqueur dominated by wormwood. The bitter shot initially hits with flavors of grapefruit before an oncoming of wormwood alongside earthy gentian root — an effect that lingers on the palate for quite a surprising while. Beneath the acrid din of the more acute tasting notes rests more gentle traces of juniper, star anise, and elderflower musk. Bottled at 100 proof, Letherbee’s BËSKremains an esoteric shot for adventurous drinkers, but the bitter liqueur can be gracefully incorporated into sophisticated cocktails.
200ml
Fernet
Letherbee’s freshly refined take on the signature digestif is smooth, perhaps startlingly so. The prominence of saffron evokes popular Fernets, but supporting notes of rhubarb root and myrrh gum scaffold the palate as to not let bitter notes overpower. Spearmint and eucalyptus lend a subtle, pleasant mentholated finish. Given Letherbee’s penchant for balanced flavors, thisFernet is versatile—shoot it, sip it after a meal, add it to coffee, or mix it in a complex cocktail.
200ml
Original Label GIN
Few gins unfold likeLetherbee’s flagship tipple, distilled by hand with a clean yet robust blend of 11 botanicals. Juniper spearheads a mélange of spices, including coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon, while cubeb berries evoke a touch of pepper and a hint of ginger in the finish. Lemon and orange peel lend the dry, balanced concoction a bit of room for keen drinkers to pick up subtle notes of licorice and almond. At 96 proof, Letherbee Gin shines in all contexts, whether sipped straight, louched with a few drops of water until slightly cloudy, or mixed in a cocktail.
1l
AUTUMNAL 2023
For this year’s Autumnal we’ve blazed a new path for ourselves in working with fruit. Juice from beautiful Michigan pears is fortified with custom house-made spirits to create an acid-driven, low-alcohol blend that is most enjoyed straight from the chilled bottle.
Technically, this is a ‘cordial’ but could be approached more like sherry, pommeau, or light vermouth. While we love serving it chilled and drinking it straight, we are very excited to try all of your mixed drinks and all the foods you ‘pear’ it with…
Featuring Michigan pears
750ml
18% ABV
PH 3.52
Vernal 2024
Strawberry Cordial is a continuation of our fresh work with fruit and celebrates warm weather’s most anticipated juice-bomb: STRAWBERRIES!
This is Letherbee’s 2nd fruit-based cordial and 24th seasonal release. (The first 22 were all gins!)
How do we make this strawberry cordial? Well, we spent over six months tinkering. So, thank you for asking.
You know how there are some pieces of produce deemed too ugly for grocery store shelves? These misfit strawberries become any and all varieties of cleaned, cut, juiced, pureed, reduced, frozen, sweetened, preserved, and freeze dried. We want to help make sure they don’t go to waste! Better yet, we make them delicious.
We get “ugly” strawberry juice and carefully blend it with a precious little recipe of neutral grain spirit compounded with a proprietary blend of botanicals, neutral French oak, hand-harvested Chicago rooftop honey, and some of our Original Label Gin. The result is a bright, juicy, dry, aromatic enigma of some of earth’s finest blessings.
We encourage you to think of and to use this like a dry aromatized wine. Drink straight! Spritz it! Mix with Tonic! A Cosmo! A Vesper! Don’t let us stop you! Go off!
For best results, serve chilled and keep chilled after opening.
VERNAL GIN 2023
Featuring Peach and Basil
Approx 150 cases produced
750mL
96 proof
Peach and Basil, a classic pair, a pair so perfect, it never gets old!
For this Spring and Summer we have beautifully captured and preserved the freshest of peach aromatics sidekicked by the grounding green vegetal qualities of basil - all joined with many of the classic botanicals found in Letherbee's OG.
AUTMNAL GIN 2022
Letherbee’s Autumnal Gin 2022 explores the nuances of oak terroir and the remarkable impact of barrel size on spirits. For one year, we rested our gin in two different French oak puncheons (pun’chən) made by Tonnellerie Damy, one of the great Burgundian cooperages. Tonnellerie Damy is CTB certified – a French certification for traditional barrels made with the best materials from traceable sources – and one of the few cooperages in France able to make barrels with oak from specific forests. It’s also PEFC certified to ensure France’s oak forests remain a resource for generations to come.
We chose lightly toasted puncheons made with oak specifically from the forests of Jura and Allier in France, which are known for their distinct flavor profiles. In Allier, oaks grow in poor, heavy soil, producing tight-grained wood famous for its warm spiciness. Jura’s mountainous terrain and intense winter weather give its oak trees a distinct boreal character, with notes like pine nuts and herbs.
The 500L Puncheons we used are more than twice the size of American bourbon barrels. That larger size means a higher ratio of spirit to wood, resulting in transparent layers of balanced, elegant oak character that empower the underlying details of Letherbee Original Label Gin to shine through.
Tasting Notes: After a year in these magnificent casks, this gin developed a nose evoking pine forests threaded with smoke and enriched with the warm aromas of allspice and toasted almonds. Flavors like hazelnut, caramel, green coffee beans, and cut grass make us imagine our Original Label Gin pulled on a cozy autumn sweater and headed out for a misty hike in the hills.
L I M I T E D
S O L D O U T
VERNAL GIN 2022
Two lovers, Almond and Lavender, together during a
dreamy morning. Almond is the bed on which they
lie. It is the flesh and warm embrace. Lavender is
the breeze from the window. It is wisps of hair
tickling the skin. Both are soft, calming. One is
milky earth. The other, ethereal. They remind us the
waiting is worth it.
Looking back through time and place... In ancient
China, humans began cultivating almonds. By 500
BC almond trees found themselves thriving all
around the Mediterranean. Interestingly, almond is
not actually a nut but is technically a stone fruit.
Prized for its protein, it is also an adored flavor and
aroma in desserts and baked treats, such as
marzipan.
A flower in the mint family, lavender has been used
across civilizations for both practical and esoteric
purposes. Its calming eect has made it a
prominent herb in aromatherapy. Herbs de Provence,
a spice blend born in Southern France, is a popular
culinary application.
Letherbee Vernal Gin 2022 combines almond and
lavender in a way that is both balanced and gentle.
The softness is coupled by the dry, savory flavors of
the gin’s coriander and cubeb pepper while juniper
coalesces seamlessly with the florality. In total, we
have bottled 265 cases, or 3180 bottles. 176 lbs of
super grade French lavender and 2.75 gallons of
almond oil were used in the production.
This gin begs to be put in the Aviation cocktail. It is
a fascinating base for a Last Word or any drink
including génépy. The French 75 and Gimlet benefit
from the florality and roundness. We are curious,
how would you make a delicious Dirty Martini with
2022’s Vernal Gin?
AUTMNAL GIN 2021
Continuing work with the genus of citrus, Letherbee Autumnal Gin 2021 turns to a fruit associated with perfumes, cosmetics, and tea. Thought to be the most delicate of citrus, Citrus bergamia, commonly called Bergamot, is a genetic cross between lemon and bitter orange. Its origins trace back to Southern Italy and commercial cultivation is centered there in Reggio Calabria (toe of the boot).
Bergamot’s fruity yet floral aroma elicits dualities - uplift with calm, arousal with security, stimulation with tranquility. It’s the mesmerizing comfort of candlelight. It’s the late night hygge of lying next to the dancing flames in a fireplace.
With the added hint of cocoa nib in the recipe, 2021’s Autumnal Gin plays nicely with bitter cocktails. Think about combinations with sweet vermouth, amaro, fernet. Consider baking spices, black tea, Calabrian chili, ginger, and fig. For lighter sour drinks try herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, basil, and lemongrass. Maybe get wild and work it with some blue cheese.
Autumnal Gin 2021 is made using classic Letherbee original gin botanicals plus dried bergamot peel, cold-pressed bergamot oil, and cocoa nibs. Total production is approximately 190 cases.
Vernal GIN 2021
Citrus paradisi........
Or, grapefruit, as we commonly call it, is a relatively young citrus - believed to be a hybrid of sweet orange and pomelo, and first propagated in the Caribbean in the 1700’s.
Delightfully aromatic, tart, and fruity, it is used like many other citruses - as the punctuation and flair in desserts, in salads, as juice, and in marmalades. We enjoy it in classic cocktails such as Paloma and Salty Dog and in cultured modern drinks like Sasha Petraske’s Shifting Sands. Always loving grapefruit’s tunefulness with Letherbee Original Label Gin, we found this the perfect time to further explore the relationship and to create a dry yet fruity gin, poised for this summer’s airy and bright cocktails. Focusing on fresh aromatics, we exclusively use the zest (otherwise called flavado!) from fresh fruits. More specifically, around 170 pounds of fresh zest mingled with juniper, coriander, cardamom and other herbs in each distillation yielding 150 gallons of final gin. In total, we are macerating around 700 pounds of fresh grapefruit peel and distilling approximately 600 gallons of Vernal 2021 into roughly 3000 bottles (250 cases).
As a study in grapefruit, Letherbee Vernal 2021 will work beautifully in classic (and variations of) cocktails that are fruit driven, floral, and refreshing (such as an Aviation, Corpse Reviver No. 2, French 75, & Gimlet,) as well as with bitter drinks that take well to citrus (such as Negroni and Martinez ris).
AUTUMNAL GIN 2020
The oak barrel holds an almost mythological place in the crafting of spirits. Barrels have been used for thousands of years to store countless types of goods including wine, beer, spirits, tea, pickles, hot sauce, maple syrup, mustard, salted fish...and the list goes on. Spirits makers who employ barrel-aging often point to the casks themselves as a key component to their products’ quality and character.
We began our humble program of barrel-aging Letherbee Gin in May of 2015. Since then, we have been slowly and steadily laying down an array of barrels, and waiting for when the time felt and tasted right. With glee, we feel that time is now.
Letherbee Autumnal Gin 2020 is a straight up barrel aged gin. We’ve picked our favorite barrels and made our favorite blend. No sugar, caramel, or any other sweeteners or colors added. It’s bone dry and sits in a balance of being uplifting yet grounded, ethereal yet solid, aromatic and earthy.
To go deeper: We use standard size 53 gal. American oak barrels (nothing smaller). This size staves off the oak’s tannins from overpowering the spirit. All casks used in this batch are brand new, first fill, meaning they’ve never had any other liquid in them other than our gin. Veering away from the preferences of whiskey producers, we lean toward barrels that are lightly toasted on the inside - a distinction from the more aggressive charred insides of barrels typically used for aging Bourbon. This bestows a gentler, more delicate and more nuanced oak impression that preserves space for the gin’s botanicals to carry on singing their aromatic harmonies.
S O L D O U T
VERNAL GIN 2020
For this year's Vernal we chose to focus on an ingredient that hits close to home and to draw on something familiar and grounding, and yet again, something not commonly associated with Gin.
Months ago, I was thinking about my grandparents' little farmhouse and what it smells like - my permanently implanted scent-memories are of sun-roasted topsoil, cornhusks, juiced tomatoes, and horseradish.....
I realized that a horseradish flavored gin used in a Red Snapper (Bloody Mary with Gin) would taste like the farm. You see, our base alcohol is made from corn, the horseradish not only brings its own flavor of spice but also the flavor of the soil, and the tomato, well, is the main squeeze of the Red Snapper......And I digress.
In short: Vernal Gin 2020 = Horseradish.
autumnal gin 2019
The price of tea was too high for some people in old Kyoto, while court nobles and merchants drank tea replete with rich green matcha, most could only afford a few small leaves per cup. To fill out their tea, people turned to something simple, rice.They roasted rice until some kernels popped like popcorn and mixed the roasted rice in with green tea. What they found was more than cheap tea filler, roasted rice gave the tea a warm, nutty flavor and a starchiness that stuck to your stomach. The blend of roasted rice and green tea was called genmaicha and it grew in popularity around japan and recently has spread to the world market. It was in genmaicha that we discovered the full satisfying flavor of roasted rice and we wanted to make something of it. But we don’t make tea, we make gin.
In our 2019 Autumnal Gin, we ditched the green tea and combined the rich toasty flavor of roasted rice with the bright notes of seaweed.
We chose a blend of three seaweeds to wrap around the roasted rice: nori for its bright oceanic high notes, wakame for its salinity and, kombu, king of kelp, for its subtle umami. This sea trifecta mingles with the classic gin botanicals juniper, coriander, and lemon to balance with roasted rice and create a full, satisfying gin steeped in Japanese flavor.
VERNAL GIN 2019
In the wake of Winter, we’re all looking for a little heat. What better way to usher in Spring than to saddle up with some green chiles – savory, bold, and warm flavors emblematic of Mexico and the USA’s Southwest. Fresh poblanos and green bell peppers bring a vegetal and grassy palate to our 2019 Vernal. Simple and straightforward, this recipe features a pared-down botanical distillate of juniper, coriander, and lemon peel with nearly a ton of poblano and green bells. Juicy and bright in body, it delivers a subtly spicy finish from our jalapeno and green hatch chile maceration.
AUTUMNAL GIN 2018
From its origins in Holland, the botanicals used in gin have all been thought to provide therapeutic properties, treating everything from stress headaches to spiritual afflictions. Juniper, angelica, sage, and citrus were holistic sources of healing prior to our modern age.
Approximately 6,000 miles across the globe in Central and South America, palo santo, translating literally to “holy wood,” has been a holistic healing tool whose popularity has spread globally for its relaxing and enchanting fragrance. Palo santo is a distant relative to other sacred aromatics, such as frankincense and myrrh. Thought to be powerfully cleansing, this sweet-smelling wood has a uniquely relaxing aroma, ranging from notes of citrus to burnt sugar, mint and cedar.
For our 2018 Autumnal Gin, we have chosen to highlight sage, or salvia, meaning “savior”, with the holiest of woods. We harvested fresh garden sage and steeped it with the smoke from burned palo santo to create the core flavors for this spirit. Earthy sage and sweet, musky palo santo come together in a richly aromatic union. It is a marriage that tastes so natural, it feels like divine intervention. So, will this drinkable distillate bring you spiritual enlightenment and incite medical miracles? Probably not, but it will make a damn good cocktail.
S O L D O U T
VERNAL GIN 2018
In Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden Of Earthly Delights, the bacchanalian painting features several enormous, human-sized strawberries. The scene is flecked with larger than life, electric red berries, coveted by his otherworldly cast of characters. There have been centuries of debate and scholarly interpretation surrounding Bosch’s intentions. But who wouldn’t be enamored by the enchanting fruit, symbol of the verdurous harvest to come?
At the very beginning of spring, just as the ground starts to defrost, strawberry season comes in fast and strong. One of the first fruits to reach ripeness, their presence is as ephemeral as their sweet, acerbic essence. Perhaps as a lesson in consumption, the most flavorful of strawberries are also the smallest – bright red tender and fragrant, they are best eaten right off the bush.
Inspired by the classic combination of strawberries and cream, we paired strawberries with rich Madagascar vanilla beans and steeped them in our Letherbee Original Label Gin. The addition of bright and medicinal locally-sourced eucalyptus infuses yet another layer of complexity that almost recreates the sensation of strolling through a strawberry field at peak harvest – a garden of earthly delights, but bottled.
Autumnal gin 2017
Unlike its jammy summer siblings, the hardy cranberry comes of age in shallow, flooded wetlands. In late fall, cranberry bogs glow a gem-like red, and the crop is corralled across the surface of the water until fruit separates from vine. To create Letherbee’s 2017 Autumnal Gin, we plunged this most bewitching of berries back into liquid, bathing the harvest in a rosemary-infused pond of our own making. The prominent rosemary savor grounds the gin’s berry brightness in cozy, herbaceous notes of winter, and mires with slivers of sundried lemon peel for a fresh forward palette. A gentle back-up chorus of cardamom, allspice, and almond beg to be poured hot into a modern toddy, but could just as easily animate a frosty winter Corpse Reviver. Fireside consumption is highly encouraged. This blush-colored holiday libation is bottled at 96 proof for a limited-edition run of 260 cases.
VERNAL GIN 2017
The tangy, rejuvenating flavors of Southeast Asia inspire Letherbee’s 2017 Vernal Gin. Fistfuls of freshly snapped lemongrass stalk lend the liquid a spritely green hue, and fill the flavor with a minty, citric brightness. Holy basil and raw ginger nimbly coast along each clean sip, then cascade into the mustardy galangal mid-palate. The finish plants a goodbye kiss of creamy almond, savory long pepper, and crisp lemon peel. Try your first pour neat and cold, and then team it into an elevated Gin & Tonic. Moreover, mix it with some orgeat and OJ for a spruced up Mai Tai, or take your Bloody Mary game to the next level. Bringing fragrance and lightness, this refreshing spirit is just right for warm nights. The 2017 Vernal Gin is bottled at 96 proof for a limited run of 3240 bottles.
AUTUMNAL GIN 2016
Rumor has it that borscht was invented during the Russo-Turkish war as an economical way to feed four thousand Cossacks during the two-month siege of Azov fortress in southern Russia. Regardless of origin, the hearty, sour soup has since become popular in several, Eastern European countries including, most notably, the Ukraine whose beetroot based version has become widely associated with the name. Not to mention, furthermore, that it served as the primary inspiration for the fifth installment in our Autumnal series: our flagship gin made with beets, dill, black pepper, caraway and cumin. Subtle nose, grassy, almost like an open field after a rainstorm. Black pepper is upfront imparting woody, piney notes and a tinge of heat on the tongue. The body is clean, remarkably smooth with an earthy flavor lingering in the background. The finish offers hints of citrus and sweet anise before fading into a pleasant warmth. Try it neat or louched first and then, in a Bloody Mary, Hanky Panky or Dry Martini. The 2016 Autumnal Gin is bottled at 96 proof and was made in a limited run of 2,500 bottles.
S O L D O U T
VERNAL GIN 2016
Taking cues from Eclectic Medicine and herbal remedies, R.Franklin awakens Letherbee's 2016 Vernal Gin into a golden sunrise of chamomile and honey. Slight sweetness is tempered by lemon and mandarin orange peel while milky grass hurls itself upward from a bed of the winter's decay. Himalayan sea salt echos the brine of Muscadet. It all hangs on the backbone of Echinacea root and Letherbee's Original Gin botanicals. This batch was finished on April 29 and yields 235 cases.
Autumnal GIN 2015
For nearly 3 years at the distillery Letherbee has been aging their Original Gin in a used Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrel. A restrained addition of this single barrel lends to the Autumnal blend a smack of Bourbon’s complexity while commanding the reigns over the Bourbon's grains. Letherbee then throws into the mix an ethereal single-origin wood-fired maple syrup from The Bunker Farm in Vermont. The syrup's embedded terrior confidently tiptoes along the gin's coriander and cardamom, granting a warm glowing confection. House-roasted sugar maple wood chunks camber the Bourbon's bite and the maple's sweetness as the batch is crowned by the peppery savor of allspice.
Vernal GIN 2015
This season’s recipe variation is uniquely both rambunctious and relaxed. The 2015 VernalGin pays tribute to Paul McGee and all other bartenders who are spearheading the growth of Tiki Culture. Driven primarily by the tropical and savory profiles of papaya, pineapple, and toasted coconut, this gin exudes a lush bouquet of vanilla, pink peppercorn, and peeled rambutan. Its confident mid-palate unfolds a succulent blend of ripe persimmon and sunchoke, suspended by the recognizable Letherbee gin botanicals with a mouthfeel that blooms into a long, silky malolactic finish.
Autumnal GIN 2014
With 2014’s Autumnal Gin, Letherbee Distillers conjures the quiet comfort of an intimate fireside get-together — think pralines and hot cocoa. In reality, this year’s subtle seasonal bends the flagship gin’s cardamom and cinnamon with a creamy, toasted nut vibe — specifically, roasted hazelnut and black walnut. Sealing the warmth, a hint of cocoa nibs fades into a clean finish. The2014 Autumnal Gin is bottled at 96 proof and was made in a limited run of 135 cases.
S O L D O U T
Vernal GIN 2014
Letherbee’s 2014 Vernal Gin redoubles the iconic G&T by macerating traditional tonic botanicals alongside their signature recipe. The first thing you notice is a subtle pink hue — this comes from red cinchona bark, which also lends a hint of bitterness. The palate is balanced with lemongrass and citrus peel, while traces of ginger and allspice echo in the background. This refreshing seasonal is just as versatile as Letherbee’s flagship: sip it neat or with ice, serve it up in a gimlet or martini, or add soda water, sweetener, and lime for a next-level gin and tonic. Note that the pink hue will turn yellow with the addition of citrus juice or anything acidic.
Autumnal GIN 2013
2013’s concoction throws open the windows to let the bonfire in — smokey tones resonate from toasted pine chips and lapsang souchong tea. Instead of nutmeg, blade mace keeps the 2013 mix light with hints of saffron and hay that complement the flagship gin’s coriander and cardamom. The limited edition 2013 Autumnal Gin is bottled at 96 proof and appears with a slightly amber hue, owing to the tea and ancient pine smoke.
Vernal GIN 2013
Just as Letherbee Distillers concocted a limited-run Autumnal Gin in the waning months of 2012, the Chicago crew now honors Spring with a similarly rare Vernal Gin. It’s fresh, fragrant, and softly layered — upfront notes of chrysanthemum flower resonate amidst hints of chamomile, arnica flower, and jasmine. And while juniper and coriander remain at its backbone, the Vernal sipper plays with the basic concept of gin. Within each 96-proof bottle, a sprig of buffalo grass soaks in the un-chill filtered spirit, adding a touch of vanillin sweetness and a subtle green hue.
Autumnal GIN 2012
2013’s Autumnal Gin from Letherbee Distillers evoked an indoor sort of warmth — that seasonal blend mixed in cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, perhaps best for devilishly spiking a cider.