Johnnie Walker Blue Ghost And Rare Brora Blended Scotch Whisky (750ml / 46%)

The latest installment in the Johnnie Walker line isn’t a new color but rather a special version of an existing one. Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Brora, as it notes on the bottle, is a “Special Blend with Brora & Rare; 8 Legendary Whiskies.”

The key to that is a single word: Brora, a long-dead distillery whose few remaining casks appear regularly in Diageo’s annual Special Release series. Brora single malt is now a highly coveted (and highly expensive) whisky, and its appearance here in this blend should raise eyebrows, considering it’s available at a price well below what the single malt commands.

So what is Ghost and Rare, really? More completely, it’s “the first in a series of special releases crafted using irreplaceable whiskies from ‘ghost’ distilleries that have long since closed, together with other rare malt and grain scotch.”

All eight distilleries are outlined on the bottle (with a handy map). The three ghosts are Cambus, Pittyvaich, and the aforementioned Brora. The five “rare whiskies” include Royal Lochnagar, Clynelish, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, and Cameronbridge. Some of those are rarer than others, but clearly some less expensive juice is needed to keep the price down.

To answer the most obvious question that any Johnnie Walker fan must be thinking, this is nothing like standard Blue Label, not just because it lacks a peated element, but because it offers a far richer and more developed depth of character and flavor. Even if you think you don’t like blends, even if you think you don’t like Johnnie Walker, I highly recommend checking it out!

92 points - Review by drinkhacker.com