William Grant & Sons’ Rare Cask Reserves Ghosted Reserve 26 Year Old Scotch Whisky
William Grant & Sons' Rare Cask Reserves Ghosted Reserve 26 Year Old Scotch Whisky is a 750mL blended malt bottled at 42% ABV (84 proof), built entirely from single malts drawn from two closed — "ghosted" — Scottish distilleries: Inverleven and Ladyburn. Master Blender Brian Kinsman married the two malts in hand-picked oak casks for the Rare Cask Reserves collection, and the release ran to just 4,100 bottles worldwide. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 42% (84 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Age: 26 years
- Origin: Scotland — malts from Inverleven (Dumbarton) and Ladyburn (Girvan, Ayrshire)
- Style: Blended malt Scotch whisky — no grain whisky
- Release: 4,100 bottles worldwide (2,000 for the US) at launch
Two Silent Distilleries in One Bottle
Some distilleries never reopen. Inverleven worked inside the Dumbarton complex from 1938 to 1991; Ladyburn ran for barely a decade, 1963 to 1975, on William Grant & Sons' Girvan site before falling silent. The whisky they left behind can never be made again, which is the whole premise of the Ghosted Reserve: Kinsman, the sixth Master Blender in the family firm's history, went into the company's warehouse inventory and selected aged malts from those two lost names, then married them in hand-picked oak casks and gave the flavours time to meld. The producer bills it as the first blended malt to bring these two ghosted distilleries together. See what else the house holds on the William Grant & Sons vendor page and in our whisky collection.
Tasting Notes
The components explain the glass, per the producer: the Ladyburn malt brings deep oak and a slightly oily weight, the Inverleven malt sweet fruit and floral blossom. Producer notes carried by retailers describe a nose of rich malted barley and oaky sweetness with a hint of zesty citrus; a deep, creamy palate of almond oil, developing sweet oak, delicate spice and toasted almonds; and a long, malty finish.
How to Enjoy
Neat, in a tulip glass, with time — a whisky blended from distilleries closed for decades asks for a slow pour, and a few drops of water will open the almond and oak. More rare and aged bottles live in our whisky collection and across our spirits collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "ghosted" mean in Ghosted Reserve?
It is William Grant & Sons' word for a silent distillery — one that has closed for good. This bottling contains malt whisky only from two of them, Inverleven and Ladyburn, so the supply is finite by definition.
Is Ghosted Reserve 26 a blended malt or a blended Scotch?
A blended malt: it marries single malts from two distilleries and contains no grain whisky. That separates it from its 21 Year Old sibling, which is a blended Scotch built on a different recipe.
How many bottles of Ghosted Reserve 26 were released?
4,100 bottles worldwide at launch, of which 2,000 were allocated to the US, per the producer's release coverage.
When the casks from two silent distilleries are gone, they are gone — order Ghosted Reserve 26 Year Old Scotch Whisky online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.