Location is important - especially when the setting is a historic town located in the South Funen archipelago. But the story starts with passion, interest and an education in quality assurance.

The founder of Ærø Whisky, Michael Nielsen, had nothing but the above when he started Ærø Whisky at home in his garage in 2013.
The passion and interest was strong. Combined with a practical education in quality assurance and an ambition to make some of the world's best whisky, Ærø Whisky was born.

As with all new ideas, Ærø Whisky had virtually no funds to work with, but passion and ambition wanted it to be different.

His interest in flavor and how it can be developed from just a few ingredients drove him to build and develop what is now a well-established whisky distillery. All the products to create whisky were available locally on the island, he just needed the equipment. It also spurred his interest in sustainability and caring for the community he lived in. Michael is originally a master mariner and at the time worked at Søby shipyard as a dock master. In his spare time, he started developing whisky and over the next few years he refined it with local products to make it a pure Ærø product.

Michael sourced barley from local farmers on Ærø, and there was also an interest in traceability from the individual bottle of whisky to the individual field. In 2016, the distillery will be built in the wash house in the backyard of Købmandsgården in Ærøskøbing. It was awarded the 'Renover special award' as a recognizable renovation of an 1800s building. In 2019, the brewery was established across the street from the distillery and now stands as a single unit, providing the setting for Ærø whisky.

In the summer of 2019, Ærø Whisky became a limited company and today consists of approximately 420 owners. Today, the company has a professional board of directors and the day-to-day management is handled by Michael Nielsen himself.