Paul Hletko is the founder of FEW Spirits in Evanston Illinois. Until he opened his distillery there, Evanston had been dry for 160 years and was known as the birthplace of prohibition. Paul has always had an urge to create, to start with nothing, and end up with something. He is inspired by his grandfather, who was a brewer in the Czech Republic before World War II. He lost everything, including his family, to the Nazis, and Paul merged his urge to create with his desire to honour this family heritage and FEW Spirits was born.

He has been a strong leader in the American Craft Spirits Organization and is proud to have FEW be considered a trailblazer for Craft Spirits in America. When asked where he sees FEW spirits going, he said: “We really just want to keep doing what we do, which is making the best whiskey in the world. At the end of the day, we are motivated by that glass of whiskey being shared by friends and family. We want that liquid to be the absolute best we can make it. So for the [upcoming] years we just want to keep producing the best spirits for people to share and to keep building on that creative dream that started all of this.”

• FEW Bourbon
• FEW Rye
• FEW Cold Cut
• FEW Immortal Rye
• FEW Triple Smoke