Corio Skee Whisky Botttled 1930s

A 1930s - early 1940s release from the closed Corio distillery in Geelong. This expression comes from a period when Corio was releasing their whisky under a number of different brand names including Old Decanter and SKEE before they found successs with their Corio Special Extra Fine brand. Likely bottled around 1938, this is some of the earliest Corio distilled spirit and it is truly stunning that this bottle has survived for over 80 years.

Corio

A name that is steeped in Australian history, the Corio distillery opened in 1928 by Federal distilleries Pty, a company comprising Australia's major distilleries. This company would be purchased by Distillers Company Limited, a Scottish collective of distilleries that would later become the modern brand Diageo. Corio launched its first products in the mid 1930s as the brand aged all of its stock for at least 5 years, also producing gins & brandy products during this time. The whisky saw quite considerable acclaim with the brand receiving numerous awards. Typically a blended whisky, Corio redefined Australian whisky at the time and became immensely popular both domestically and in overseas markets. As the 1970s came to a close the import duty on imported whisky dropped, leading to brands like Johnnie Walker to be more affordable. These longer aged Scottish blends became the drink of choice, with Corio's reputation morphing into a cheap nasty drink that couldn't keep up. The distillery sadly closed in 1989 amidst the downturn of the global whisky market.