Word – how to get columnar text

Word – how to get columnar text:
F S C
L A L
U X A
T R
E I
N
E
T
(I did the above with tabs, but this is tedious.)
I have Word 2000, but if a newer version can do this, that would be a good answer.
I can do this in Excel, but I haven?t figured out how to control the line spacing between the letters. I am trying to print vertical labels for a sorting bin, and I would like the letters to be as large as possible (hence the concern about line spacing).
Solving the line spacing in Excel would be a good answer too.