The secrets of silent Parkmore

Parkmore distillery in the outskirts of Dufftown

Parkmore distillery. Once a place of whisky production in the Speyside area, but now little more than a relic of days gone by. It ceased production in 1931 just three years short of its 40 year anniversary. The reason stated was problems with its water source which wasn't very well suited for making whisky. The water was hard and full of limestone, running through layers of shale. Parkmore took its water from a source in the mountains, today the location is known as Parkmore Lime Quarry.

The buildings are still around today, some 80+ years after its demise. At least from the outside they seem to be in rather good shape. The warehouses are of particular interest as they still harbor some sort of life. Closed under lock and key and with every window bolted shut, little but spider webs can be seen by those who venture there today. Unless you are employed by one of the distillers renting space for cask maturation in one of Parkmore's warehouses that is. And as it turns out, quite a few distilleries do just that.

Spider webbed windows at Parkmore

As you may have been told from books or tour guides, the location of where the whisky is matured is of great importance. A distillery close to the sea is said to have the salty and tangy aromas of its surroundings, influencing the resting spirit in a way that will let the experienced aficionado determine a thing or two of the whereabouts of the producer. You may then be surprised to learn that almost all malt distilleries rent space in warehouses belonging to other distilleries, in similar geographic locations - and sometimes not. The reason for this is of course sound; if a fire strikes the distillery doesn't lose all its stock. And it is not always economically wise to build new warehousing on site. Not to mention that there are quite a few distilleries that don't have enough land to do so even if they wanted to.

Parkmore warehouses

Casks of new make whisky are sent all over Scotland, sometimes even being moved after a few years of rest. The average consumer has little or no way of finding out wether the malt in his or her glass was actually matured on site or somewhere else. There is sometimes also recasking going on. A decision can be made that the current cask is not doing its job properly, and its contents is therefore moved to another cask. But I digress...

A nice cask sleeping safely inside a warehouse at Parkmore

As far as I can tell, very few people has seen, much less photographed, the contents of the warehouses of Parkmore. Actually, most active distilleries who take on visitors won't let you take photographs inside the warehouses (or in the still house). In recent years there has been a bit of a fanatic safety hubbub all over Scotland. This has resulted in all kinds of prohibitions regardless of the stated risk being scientifically possible or not. Taking photographs in the warehouses might cause a slight spark, igniting the alcoholic fumes and leading to fire and destruction - or at least that is the reason stated by many of the tour guides. I have personally had permission to take photographs inside the warehouses of quite a few distilleries over the years, and not one of them succumbed to an accident as a result. Sufficed to say, the alcoholic fumes do not differ from warehouse X to Y so the reason given is not based on fact, but on something else.

A resting Macallan cask with no 13099 from 2006 inside Parkmore's warehouse

Anyway, I have had the opportunity to do just that - taking photographs of the contents of some of Parkmore's warehouses. The picture above is of one of several casks of Macallan from 2006. It's cask number 13099 and it's resting comfortably inside one of Parkmore's warehouses. You will be hard pressed to find pictures of the warehouse contents anywhere else, as far as I know.

Inside one of Parkmore's warehouses

I can't tell you much of the contents of these casks, I'm afraid. As of some time the distilleries use barcodes to identify their casks. The barcodes give all information relevant; contents, date of cask filling, previous contents, number of times used, origin of the cask and so forth. Not all of it is written in plain words nowadays. Gone are the days of painting the sides of the casks to identify first or second fills and such. Although I do recall seeing this practice on a few sites still, even though it isn't necessary any more.

Mystery contents of recently sampled cask at Parkmore.
The barcode says "The Clyde Cooperage Co Ltd, Work ticket, 215338"

Parkmore's own maltings were operational a few decades after the last drop of spirit had left the stills. Sometime during the late1960's, the maltings went silent as well. Not much can be found inside the main buildings today. And you'll be hard pressed to find a bottle of Parkmore whisky anywhere, even amongst the most dedicated whisky collectors. According to some sources all casks containing Parkmore whisky were smashed when the distillery closed, in what might be called distillery genocide.

Inside one of the main buildings of Parkmore, more specifically the kiln

The distillery, or rather the remains, was sold to Highland Distillers Plc in 1988. Not much has happened after that. It was the fifth distillery to open in the area of Dufftown. Back in the days when it was founded, there was a major whisky boom resulting in many new distilleries. Of these some remain (Balvenie, Glen Moray and BenRiach to name a few) but of the now silent sites, Parkmore is the most well preserved. It's actually beautiful, at least externally.

The buildings themselves are described and logged by The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments Of Scotland (http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/) with the following description:

"Group of distillery buildings, all harl pointed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings; decorative cast-iron finials; slate roofs. Yeast store (former malt-barn), kiln, workshops, offices. N facing irregular U-plan range surrounding open court. 3-storey, 14-bay yeast store with long elevations E and W. Regular fenestration with multi-pane glazing and some shuttered lower lights. 3-storey square traditional kiln at SE angle with 3-bay elevations; slated ogee roof terminating with louvred pagoda cupola. 2-storey, 6-bay range extends from W elevation of kiln closing S side of court. Irregular 2-storey office block forms W arm of court; some 1st floor windows break eaves under gablets; some enlarged fenestration in W elevation. Single storey 3-bay fire-station and garage block projects from N gable. (Ref. Historic Scotland)"

Parkmore as seen from the road in summer time

Located very close to the still active distillery of Glendullan, which mostly produces for blended whisky, Parkmore is perhaps not a bad candidate for reopening in the future. The stills are long gone, but when I was there in the summer of 2012 I did notice some tools and signs of recent presence inside the buildings. Who knows? With the current high demand of whisky, maybe the final chapter of Parkmore has yet to be written after all?




Facts
Name: Parkmore Distillery
Status: Defunct
Operational: 1894-1931
Location: Dufftown, Speyside

History
1891   Distillery founded by James Watson & Son Ltd
1894   Built by the Parkmore Distillery Company and Charles Doig
1895   Production of whisky commences
1900   Taken over by James Watson & Co. Ltd.
1923   James Watson & Co. Ltd. was acquired by John Dewar & Sons Ltd.
1925   Parkmore was sold to the Distillers Company Ltd. (DCL)
1930   Transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. until 1934
1931   Last production run of Parkmore
1940   Licensed to Daniel Crawford & Son Ltd. They never restarted the production.
1968   The maltings ceased to be used 
1988   Closed and sold to Highland Distillers plc, buildings owned by Edrington Group

2002   One of the extremely rare bottles of Parkmore was moved to Craigellachie hotell by a german collector