Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Port Ellen

This is a Johnnie Walker Blue Label release in the Ghost and Rare series, the line built around stocks from closed and rare distilleries. This edition centres on whisky from Port Ellen, the silent Islay distillery much prized by collectors, blended with other scarce malts and grains by John Walker and Sons.

As a blended Scotch it brings together malt and grain whiskies of different ages and origins, the rare components giving the blend its character while the grain whisky lends a smooth, light backbone. Port Ellen contributes a refined coastal smoke, the kind of closed distillery note that gives the Ghost and Rare line its appeal. The Ghost and Rare line is built to showcase liquid from distilleries that have fallen silent, set against a backbone of older grain whisky, and bottlings centred on Port Ellen are among the most sought after in the series.

Bottled at 43.8%, it is soft, layered and complex. The malts bring honey, dried fruit and orchard sweetness, the grain a creamy vanilla, and the Port Ellen heart a gentle maritime smoke with a salt spray. The blend is rounded and long, a polished sweet and smoky finish from a limited Blue Label edition.