FEW Spirits it’s a distillery established in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, founded in 2011 by Paul Hletko, which in a short time has built a wide reputation among the various craft distilleries dotting the United States in recent years.
While waiting to sample some of their products, I thought to have a chat with one of the distillery’s newest additions to the staff in the role of whisky maker, Erin Lee.
WhiskyArt: First of all, one of the hardest questions: how old are you?
Erin Lee: I’m 43. Usually when people ask me, I say I’m older than you think, because I come from an industry where being youthful is considered better.
WhiskyArt: Because you haven’t always worked in the spirit industry, right?
Erin Lee: Yeah, that’s correct. I used to be a fashion designer after I graduated school, full time and as a freelancer, up until 2020. I had big dreams of making people feel more confident in their clothes. I was a bit of a misfit when I grew up in Toronto, there weren’t a lot of people in my particular corner of the world that looked like me. So, I felt like I didn’t quite belong. And when you don’t feel like you belong, you wonder what you can do about it. I found clothes were kind of like armor. If you have the right clothes, you could feel good about yourself and become more confident. I decided I want to do that for other people.
WhiskyArt: So even then you felt a strong creative impulse.
Erin Lee: I wanted to create things. I wanted to be a maker. I always liked experimenting with anything, like whether it be crafts or in the kitchen, often sticking my nose in every spice jar. So, I went into fashion, moved to New York, and I worked there for a number of years. For a while, I was also a fashion blogger, and I got to attend New York Fashion Week. It was a lot of fun, but I realised that the industry was changing over time.
WhiskyArt: And not in a good way, I suppose.
Erin Lee: As fashion cycles moved faster, it was just becoming unsustainable. Bad for the environment, bad for the people who make the clothes, bad for the people behind the scenes like myself. And ultimately bad for creativity. I realised fashion is a very toxic industry. I didn’t hate what I did, but I found myself deeply unhappy. I became a freelancer while I tried to figure out what to do next.
WhiskyArt: You definitely needed a change!
Erin Lee: I was trying to figure out what I could do to relieve some stress and find a new interest. But finding a new passion is so hard, I didn’t know where to look or what to do, until I heard some good advice that was just to follow the thread of your interest. And I started getting really into tea! My husband happened to have a colleague who was doing these tea courses through the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada, so he suggested I sign up. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with this education but he told me to just enjoy it, have fun! So I signed up. And the more I got into tea, the more I realised that I really liked the process of tasting tea: slowing down, taking your time. It’s an agricultural product, and depending on how it’s processed, it can taste completely different, even though it comes all from the same plant. So I thought that was really cool!
WhiskyArt: It reminds me of something…
Erin Lee: That was my gateway into whiskey. Because similarly, depending on how it’s processed, whiskey can taste completely different. Yes, some people take shots of whiskey, but that’s not me. I like to take my time. I like to just savour and try to figure out what I’m tasting. Because it feels like a puzzle, a really fun puzzle, where I’m like, what is that? I’m going to figure it out.
WhiskyArt: So you were already drinking whiskey at the time.
Erin Lee: I was interested in whiskey after I went to Dublin. Ended up staying at an Airbnb that was right outside the Teeling Distillery. I saw it out the window, and I was like, hey, what is this place? Maybe I should go visit. So I think I went at 9.30 in the morning. And we were on the first tour of the day. It was just me and my husband and no one else. And that kind of opened my eyes to think, hey, whiskey is pretty cool.
WhiskyArt: So your first approach was actually with Irish whiskey, in a way.
Erin Lee: Yes, but I think getting into tea reinforced a deeper interest in whiskey. Just before the pandemic, I started looking for whiskey events I could attend in New York City. But then during the pandemic, I doubled down on online events because we didn’t get to see anyone in-person. And it was fun to make connections and meet new friends like yourself during the process. I think there is so much more to whiskey than the beverage, it’s about the community that surrounds it.
WhiskyArt: When was the moment where you decided to make whiskey a job? Because one thing is enjoying it, and another is saying, okay, this is what I want to do.
Erin Lee: While joining online tastings, I kept hearing people within the industry talk about the process. And I learned how people in this industry come from all sorts of backgrounds: some people were ballerinas, some architects or lawyers. There’s no one path to working in whiskey. I started wondering if I could do this. Can I add fashion designer to the list and become a whiskey maker? Even if I didn’t know how at the beginning, I thought, hey, my brain space is so full of whiskey that maybe I can make a living in it! Maybe I can work at a gift shop or lead a tour or just get my foot in the door somehow. Then I happened to see an Instagram post of a special bottle of blended malt. All of the proceeds from this blend that ten distilleries had created were going towards The STEPUP internship. I found out that it was a brand new internship to help people who are from underrepresented backgrounds, and they had extended the deadline to apply by three days. So I knew I had three days to write a kickass essay of why I should be one of the interns.
WhiskyArt: Which you ended up to be.
Erin Lee: I was selected to be one of the first two interns to go through this program. I got to travel all over the U.S. for an entire year and train at different distilleries, including Westward Whiskey in Portland, Oregon. Eight Oaks Distillery, which is a grain-to-glass farm distillery in Pennsylvania. And a number of Diageo properties, including Stitzel-Weller, Bulleit and Cascade Hollow in Tennessee. I also spent some time in Texas at a major distributor so I got to see how things happen on both sides of the equation.
WhiskyArt: You were doing everything, during the internship, or was it specific?
Erin Lee: Yeah, it was every process. I didn’t actually lead a tour, but I saw how they were doing it, I went through some of that training. I got to even work with some of the CEOs. I got to spend time in a blending lab, distilling and with quality labs. It was interesting to see how processes worked at different operations, because at a larger operation like Bulleit, there are entire teams that are just dedicated to maturation and barreling, it was really fascinating. And ultimately I decided that I liked being on the making side of things.
WhiskyArt: So that’s when you decided that you wanted to be a whiskey maker! And after you ended your internship, what then?
Erin Lee: Towards the end of my internship, STEPUP set me up with a career coach kind of helping me with the transition to the industry. The career coach helped me polish my LinkedIn and my resume. But during that process, Paul Hletko, who’s the founder of FEW Spirits, reached out to me and asked if I was looking for a distilling job. FEW was hiring a distiller. I was still two and a half months from finishing the program, and I hadn’t gone through every experience just yet. I didn’t feel quite ready to make a decision but then I couldn’t stop thinking about the offer. One of the most important things for me was working with good people. I didn’t want to be in a negative work environment again, so people were at the top of my list. FEW has a small team, I think there’s eight of us now, and I had met and talked to three of them, and they all seem like really cool people. They told me they valued creativity. And I knew that they had worked with atypical approaches to whiskey, including working with tea. So knowing that they’re open to creative approaches, experimentation, and knowing that the people seem awesome, it was a good fit for me! Plus, I am a bit of a city girl, and I loved the idea of living close to where things are happening.
WhiskyArt: So you moved to Chicago or were you living there already?
Erin Lee: I wasn’t living in Chicago. I had never actually been to Chicago before. It’s kind of a funny thing, after travelling for a whole year, it felt like I could make anything work. My husband had been here before and he said that Chicago is a cool city, I also had some friends who lived here before. And so I thought, hey, why not? Let’s see what happens!
WhiskyArt: How long have you been working for FEW?
Erin Lee: A year and two months, I started on January 15th.
WhiskyArt: How did you start? What has been your career path?
Erin Lee: For about two months I was shadowing and seeing how things were done before working my first solo shift. But right away, it was very hands on. It’s a small operation. We’re in an old garage that was converted into a distillery. I think the most difficult part for me was learning to drive a forklift because I had never driven one before! And it was a very tight space, so there wasn’t a lot of room for error. At the beginning it felt very challenging, but now it’s comfortable.
WhiskyArt: What is it that you love the most about the distilling process?
Erin Lee: I think getting to see the whole process come together in a day. I’m mashing the grain, I’m running two different stills at once, and I’m also barreling. So at the end of the day, I put two to four barrels away. That whiskey is going to sleep for a while, and in a few years, it’ll be ready for people to enjoy. So I think that’s kind of fun. When I was involved in fashion, I never got to see the whole cycle loop because manufacturing might be done in a factory in China. And once in a while, I might see someone on the street wearing something I had a part in but I didn’t regularly get to see the fruits of my labor. With whiskey, I feel like I see that. And I also enjoy the sensory aspects. I think it’s fun to see how flavor develops. I have a lot of fun when we get to distill different experiments. So if people drink more experiments, hopefully we’ll get to make even more.
WhiskyArt: Considering how Paul manages the distillery, are they open to new ideas, to new inputs from you and your colleagues?
Erin Lee: For sure. They actually encourage us to try and think of a couple interesting ideas that we want to bring to life every year. Not long ago, we had a team sit down where we discussed different ideas that we all had. And we’re going to present them to our parent company. Depending on that, we’ll decide where things go. At the end of the day, sales decides what they think will sell. Because it’s not like you can blindly make anything, you have to sell the bottles at the end of the day.
WhiskyArt: Is there something that has been made by you that’s already made into the bottle.
Erin Lee: Not yet, but there will be something coming out this year. I’m not allowed to talk about it quite yet, but I can tell you that it’s a collaboration with a client.
WhiskyArt: Right before this interview, I watched this video from Whisky Club Italia made during the pandemic with Paul, and he looked quite relaxed and positive. Is this reflected in your work in the distillery?
Erin Lee: I would say, yeah. Paul works hard and takes no nonsense from anyone, and it’s nice because I feel like he’s our distillery dad. If we ever need anything, or if people are talking crap, he’ll stand up for us. He’s also the first to encourage us.
WhiskyArt: How long is your shift?
Erin Lee: It’s a 10-hour shift. I start at 7 a.m. till 5 p.m. It used to be rotating, but I’m glad I’m on one schedule for right now. Which means I have to go to bed really early at 9pm and I feel like a grandma sometimes! I know that in some places in Europe, they’re not even starting their dinner until that time! I think the nice thing about working the four 10-hour days is I have three days off. It might be in the middle of the week, so I’m not necessarily in sync with other people. But it’s pretty flexible. My job can be physically demanding with lifting heavy bags of grain. When we were at the height of production and doing doubles, I would have to mash in around 4,500 pounds of grain, one 50-pound bag at a time. I got a lot stronger! But even though it’s physically demanding, mentally, I feel really good.
WhiskyArt: Because when you do something you really enjoy for work, the sacrifices cost you much less.
Erin Lee: Yes, and I feel this is an industry that has just really embraced me. People aren’t secretive. If there was ever some advice I needed or I got stuck on something, there are so many people I can reach out to who are willing to help me figure things out. It’s a community, not only from the drinkers, but also from the makers.
WhiskyArt: Talking about community and how you fit in it, what about women? Whiskey has always been perceived as a masculine drink, but things are changing radically in recent times, not only on the side of enthusiasts but also of whisky makers.
Erin Lee: I’m happy to see this shift happening. It’s amazing. It’s empowering. I just saw a picture from this year’s convention at the James B. Beam Institute, with over forty women in whiskey. And last year, there were just eleven women in the photo. Although I wasn’t there, it was just nice to see that change is happening now. If you look at history, the original distiller was a woman, and then it became seen as witchcraft, which is terrible. It used to be women’s work to brew and distill, but then once taxation and prohibition hit, it became the kind of work people did in secret. So that’s why it became seen as man’s work because it was considered dangerous. It’s nice to see it come back. The other women I’ve met in this industry through the Our Whisky Foundation, have become a really important source of community. I’ve been building my confidence as a result of the workshops that were part of the program. So I think things are only going to get better for women. And one day maybe people won’t think of whiskey as a man’s drink but only as a lovely one.
WhiskyArt: Have you ever had someone approach you and ask you what you were doing there, what you had to do with whiskey?
Erin Lee: I’ve been lucky in that I haven’t felt that way. But I was also part of a program that was designed specifically to counter these types of attitudes. Especially when you’re on the consumer facing side, you are met with a lot of opposition because surely as a woman, you can’t truly know what you’re talking about. Not long ago, a very well known GM of a major distillery was in a store pouring a bourbon, and someone told her that it was not bourbon. And she replied, yes, it is, and I know because I made it! Or at tastings, where sometimes people ask women if they even like whiskey? Because, yeah, you work in the industry, but you don’t really like it, right??? It never actually happened to me, but I heard lots of stories.
WhiskyArt: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Erin Lee: Through the distilling process I’m getting valuable production experience, problem solving, knowing where flavours come from, and that’s a lot of fun for me right now! Becoming a master blender one day is my dream. Anything is possible! If you think about it, two years ago I was just a whiskey fan and now I’m making it for a living! If I think about it, I can’t even believe my own journey at times. I never think of myself as a brave person, but I left all that was familiar and lived with a suitcase for a year, and that shows a certain level of bravery! I’m lucky I have a very supportive partner.
WhiskyArt: And this is another sign of changing times, it used to be the wife who had to follow her husband in his choices.
Erin Lee: He was in the position where he could work remotely, and he’s the kind of supportive human: “this has been a long time in the making, for you to get an opportunity, so go for it!”
WhiskyArt: What’s your favourite FEW bottling?
Erin Lee: From the core range, it’s Immortal Rye, which uses Eight Immortals Oolong tea as proofing water which complements the stone fruit and floral qualities that the whiskey naturally has. And the tannins in the tea have this sort of woodines that elongates the finish, so for me it’s quite lovely.