Parkmore distillery

Parkmore distillery stands in Dufftown, a small town in Moray on Scotland’s northeast coast. It is an old Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery, built in the 19th century. The site sits beside the River Fiddich, a tributary of the Spey, in a quiet corner of the whisky country. Its stone buildings date from the 1890s and still form part of a working warehouse complex. Though silent since 1988, the distillery’s history is written into the walls of the town. Dufftown itself grew around whisky, and Parkmore was one of its earliest distilleries. Parkmore’s story is one of constant change in ownership. Founded in 1894, it passed from the Parkmore Distillery Company to James Watson and Co. in 1900. John Dewar & Sons took charge in 1923, then Distillers Company Ltd in 1925. Scottish Malt Distilleries ran it from 1930 until production stopped in 1931. After decades of closure, Highland Distillers bought the site in 1988 and turned it into a warehouse. In 1999 Edrington and William Grant & Sons formed a partnership that still owns the buildings today. Visitors walk among the distillery’s original stone warehouses and still see the old still house. The site is now used for maturing and blending whiskies rather than making them. The River Fiddich runs close by, and the surrounding countryside is patchwork fields and gentle hills. Dufftown’s main street is a short distance away, lined with whisky shops and visitor centres. The distillery’s quiet yards and high stone walls give a sense of the industry that shaped the town.