V&S Distillers (formerly Danish Distillers) is Scandinavia’s largest producer and supplier of spirits for consumption, and the world’s largest producer and exporter of aquavit. The company was founded in 1881 by C.A. Olesen and C.F. Tietgen; two enterprising businessmen who resolved together to create a company that would produce and sell the finest Danish spirits.
They began a comprehensive series of acquisitions of the best Danish distilleries; at the time when Danish Distillers was founded, there were countless tiny distilleries in Denmark – actually over 2,500, of which 273 were in Copenhagen alone.
After the mergers, their numbers declined sharply, and by 1923, Danish Distillers owned all the remaining distilleries in Denmark. Many of their products are still being produced today using their original recipes.
