Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Port Ellen Blended Scotch Whisky 1Lt

This is Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Port Ellen in its most generous form: the full 1-liter bottle. The blend inside is the celebrated 2018 second release of the Ghost and Rare series, built around Islay's closed Port Ellen distillery and bottled at 43.8% ABV. The larger format, familiar from international travel exclusives, gives collectors and hosts roughly a third more of a whisky that can never be blended again.

Ghost and Rare is the series in which Johnnie Walker opens its deepest reserves. Each edition places one closed distillery at the center of a Blue Label tier blend, and this chapter belongs to Port Ellen, silent since 1983 and revered far beyond Islay. Master Blender Dr Jim Beveridge selected parcels of its peated malt and set them among whiskies chosen to frame, rather than bury, that unmistakable island character. It was among the most celebrated whisky releases of 2018, and demand for the standard bottle made the liter version scarcer still.

Three ghost distilleries appear in the recipe: Port Ellen itself plus the vanished grain makers Caledonian and Carsebridge, whose soft, creamy sweetness balances the smoke. Rare malts from Mortlach, Dailuaine, Cragganmore, Blair Athol and Oban complete the eight-whisky blend. Expect sea salt and gentle peat opening onto waxy citrus, dark honey, malt and tropical fruit, with a finish that trades between sweetness and smolder.

A liter of Ghost and Rare Port Ellen suits two audiences equally well: the collector who wants the scarcer large format on the shelf, and the host who intends to actually pour it. Served neat in good glassware, it rewards slow drinking and conversation, and its Islay backbone makes it a natural after dinner. However it is used, this is one of the most distinctive formats in the entire Ghost and Rare run. Bottled at the same 43.8% strength as the standard release, it loses nothing in translation to the larger format.

• Size: 1 Liter (1000ml)
• Proof: 87.6 (43.8% ABV)
• Age: No Age Statement (NAS)
• Origin: Scotland
• Distillery: Johnnie Walker blending house (Diageo) - drawn from multiple Scottish distilleries
• Style: Blended Scotch Whisky
• Series/Edition: Blue Label Ghost and Rare - Second Release (2018), 1L format
• Ghost Distilleries: Port Ellen, Caledonian, Carsebridge
• Tasting Notes: Sea salt and gentle peat over waxy citrus, dark honey, malt and tropical fruit