●THE AMARO ATLAS

RECORD letherbee · EVIDENCE GRADE B · UNCLAIMED · LAST VERIFIED 2026-07-09

Letherbee

Chicago · United States · 41.958, -87.680

REGION: north americaTRADITION: World amaroEST. 2011WEBSITE ↗

ZONE 01 — VERIFIED FACTS

Founded
Site copy states "EST. 2011" (confirmed on the Letherbee homepage); founder Brenton Engel's home-distilling origin story (per the About page) traces to 2007, formalised as Letherbee Distillers by 2011.A·3
Ownership
Independently owned, with no outside investors or marketers, per producer-official About copy.A·3
Location
Chicago, Illinois; a specific address (1815 W Berteau Ave) appears on a third-party venue listing but is not confirmed on the producer-official site.C·5
Fernet strength
Bottled at 70 proof (35% ABV), 750mL.A·1
Fernet accolade
Winner of a 2022 Good Food Award.A·1
Bësk strength
Bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV), 750mL.A·2
Bësk style
Described by the producer as a "Swedish-inspired herbal liqueur", named after the Swedish word for bitter.A·2
Distribution
Distributed across the US, with limited distribution in Europe and Canada.A·3

ZONE 02 — AI-COLLATED SUMMARY

AI-ASSISTED · FROM GRADED PUBLIC SOURCES

Letherbee is an independent Chicago craft distillery, tracing back to founder Brenton Engel's home-distilling experiments from 2007 and formalised as Letherbee Distillers around 2011. Its two conforming amaro-style products are Fernet, a 35% ABV take on the Italian digestif built around rhubarb root, saffron and myrrh gum with a mentholated finish, and Bësk, a 50% ABV wormwood-and-gentian bitter liqueur modelled on the Swedish besk style. Both are core-ring bitter spirits; a third product, an apple-wine-based Pomme Aperitif, was excluded as a fortified wine rather than a bitter amaro.

AI-collated from the graded sources below; operator review pending

ZONE 03 — PRODUCER-SUBMITTED NOTES

This record is unclaimed. This space opens to the producer when they claim it. Producer claiming is coming soon.

PRODUCTS ON RECORD

Fernet

35% ABV · 750ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY fernetRING coreTRADITION World amaroSELF-IDENTIFIED “Amaro / digestif (Fernet-style)”

Letherbee's take on the classic Italian fernet digestif, distilled in Chicago and bottled at 70 proof (35% ABV). Saffron gives it a flavour profile reminiscent of well-known fernets, while rhubarb root and myrrh gum keep the bitterness in check, and spearmint with eucalyptus add a mentholated finish. Won a Good Food Award in 2022.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 5 GRADED EDGES

  • Rhubarb root · bittering/structuralA·1
  • Saffron · flavouringA·1
  • Myrrh gum · bittering/structuralA·1
  • Spearmint · aromatic/finishA·1
  • Eucalyptus · aromatic/finishA·1

DESCRIPTORS

  • tannic ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • earthy ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • mentholated ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • cola ▮▮▮▮▮A·1

Bësk

50% ABV · 750ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY bitterRING coreTRADITION World amaroSELF-IDENTIFIED “Swedish-inspired herbal liqueur (bësk style)”

A wormwood-forward bitter liqueur named after the Swedish word for 'bitter', bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV). Opens with grapefruit peel before wormwood and earthy gentian root take hold, with a long finish; gentler traces of juniper, star anise and elderflower sit beneath the more acute bittering notes. A US craft-distillery riff on the Scandinavian bäsk/besk style rather than an Italian amaro, so classified here as world-amaro; flagged for editorial review if a distinct Scandinavian-diaspora tag is later wanted.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 6 GRADED EDGES

  • Wormwood · bitteringA·2
  • Grapefruit peel · flavouringA·2
  • Gentian root · bitteringA·2
  • Juniper · aromaticA·2
  • Star anise · aromaticA·2
  • Elderflower · aromaticA·2

DESCRIPTORS

  • bitter ▮▮▮▮▮A·2
  • grassy ▮▮▮▮▮A·2
  • herbal ▮▮▮▮▮A·2
  • citrus ▮▮▮▮▮A·2

SERVES

Fernet and Cola

canonical
  • · 2 oz Letherbee Fernet
  • · top with cola
  • · lime wedge garnish

build over ice

Neat / digestif pour

producer
  • · 1-1.5 oz Letherbee Fernet, served neat after a meal

neat

Bësk cocktail modifier

producer
  • · 0.25-0.5 oz Letherbee Bësk as an accent in a stirred cocktail

stirred, as a bittering modifier

ZONE 04 — COMMUNITY TASTING NOTES

RESERVED — community notes open in V2 with moderation and bias handling. The contributions ledger is already recording.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Where is Letherbee made?
Letherbee is made in Chicago, United States, and was founded in 2011.
What style of amaro is Letherbee?
On The Amaro Atlas, Fernet is recorded in the core ring, fernet subcategory, within the World amaro tradition. The producer describes it as "Amaro / digestif (Fernet-style)".

SOURCES — A–D GRADED (6)

  1. [1]AFernet — Letherbee product page · Letherbee Distillers · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09
  2. [2]ABësk — Letherbee product page · Letherbee Distillers · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09
  3. [3]AAbout Us — Letherbee · Letherbee Distillers · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09Founder Brenton Engel's origin story (home distilling from 2007); confirms independent ownership with no outside investors/marketers. The 2011 formal founding year ("EST. 2011") is confirmed on the Letherbee homepage rather than this specific page; no street address is given on the producer-official site.
  4. [4]AAutumnal 2025 Pomme Aperitif — Letherbee product page · Letherbee Distillers · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-09Confirms this product is an apple-wine-based fortified aperitif (18% ABV, apple wine + neutral grain spirit + artichoke fortification), not a bitter amaro; used to justify exclusion from the product list.
  5. [5]CLetherbee Distillers venue listing · Do312 · database · accessed 2026-07-09Third-party venue/address listing (1815 W Berteau Ave, Chicago) not independently confirmed on the producer-official site; basis for the B/probable grading on the address and forms part of the overall record grade.
  6. [6]CLetherbee Distillers directory listing · Distillery Trail · database · accessed 2026-07-09

A producer-official / regulatory · B reputable published · C secondary · D community/unverified