diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/specs/template_srv.jest.ts b/public/app/features/templating/specs/template_srv.jest.ts
index 577669a41dd..37e2f5e4fe5 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/specs/template_srv.jest.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/specs/template_srv.jest.ts
@@ -31,12 +31,40 @@ describe('templateSrv', function() {
       expect(target).toBe('this.mupp.filters');
     });
 
+    it('should replace ${test} with scoped value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test}.filters', {
+        test: { value: 'mupp', text: 'asd' },
+      });
+      expect(target).toBe('this.mupp.filters');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:glob} with scoped value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test:glob}.filters', {
+        test: { value: 'mupp', text: 'asd' },
+      });
+      expect(target).toBe('this.mupp.filters');
+    });
+
     it('should replace $test with scoped text', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replaceWithText('this.$test.filters', {
         test: { value: 'mupp', text: 'asd' },
       });
       expect(target).toBe('this.asd.filters');
     });
+
+    it('should replace ${test} with scoped text', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replaceWithText('this.${test}.filters', {
+        test: { value: 'mupp', text: 'asd' },
+      });
+      expect(target).toBe('this.asd.filters');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:glob} with scoped text', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replaceWithText('this.${test:glob}.filters', {
+        test: { value: 'mupp', text: 'asd' },
+      });
+      expect(target).toBe('this.asd.filters');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('getAdhocFilters', function() {
@@ -79,18 +107,34 @@ describe('templateSrv', function() {
       ]);
     });
 
+
     it('should replace $test with globbed value', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.$test.filters', {}, 'glob');
       expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
     });
 
+    it('should replace ${test} with globbed value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test}.filters', {}, 'glob');
+      expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:glob} with globbed value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test:glob}.filters', {});
+      expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
+    });
+
     it('should replace $test with piped value', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replace('this=$test', {}, 'pipe');
       expect(target).toBe('this=value1|value2');
     });
 
-    it('should replace $test with piped value', function() {
-      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this=$test', {}, 'pipe');
+    it('should replace ${test} with piped value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this=${test}', {}, 'pipe');
+      expect(target).toBe('this=value1|value2');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:pipe} with piped value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this=${test:pipe}', {});
       expect(target).toBe('this=value1|value2');
     });
   });
@@ -111,6 +155,16 @@ describe('templateSrv', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.$test.filters', {}, 'glob');
       expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
     });
+
+    it('should replace ${test} with formatted all value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test}.filters', {}, 'glob');
+      expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:glob} with formatted all value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test:glob}.filters', {});
+      expect(target).toBe('this.{value1,value2}.filters');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('variable with all option and custom value', function() {
@@ -131,6 +185,16 @@ describe('templateSrv', function() {
       expect(target).toBe('this.*.filters');
     });
 
+    it('should replace ${test} with formatted all value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test}.filters', {}, 'glob');
+      expect(target).toBe('this.*.filters');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace ${test:glob} with formatted all value', function() {
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.${test:glob}.filters', {});
+      expect(target).toBe('this.*.filters');
+    });
+
     it('should not escape custom all value', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replace('this.$test', {}, 'regex');
       expect(target).toBe('this.*');
@@ -143,6 +207,18 @@ describe('templateSrv', function() {
       var target = _templateSrv.replace('this:$test', {}, 'lucene');
       expect(target).toBe('this:value\\/4');
     });
+
+    it('should properly escape ${test} with lucene escape sequences', function() {
+      initTemplateSrv([{ type: 'query', name: 'test', current: { value: 'value/4' } }]);
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this:${test}', {}, 'lucene');
+      expect(target).toBe('this:value\\/4');
+    });
+
+    it('should properly escape ${test:lucene} with lucene escape sequences', function() {
+      initTemplateSrv([{ type: 'query', name: 'test', current: { value: 'value/4' } }]);
+      var target = _templateSrv.replace('this:${test:lucene}', {});
+      expect(target).toBe('this:value\\/4');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('format variable to string values', function() {
diff --git a/public/app/features/templating/template_srv.ts b/public/app/features/templating/template_srv.ts
index fa5cabd847a..40f119ea10b 100644
--- a/public/app/features/templating/template_srv.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/templating/template_srv.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,13 @@ function luceneEscape(value) {
 export class TemplateSrv {
   variables: any[];
 
-  private regex = /\$(\w+)|\[\[([\s\S]+?)\]\]/g;
+  /*
+   * This regex matches 3 types of variable reference with an optional format specifier
+   * \$(\w+)                          $var1
+   * \[\[([\s\S]+?)(?::(\w+))?\]\]    [[var2]] or [[var2:fmt2]]
+   * \${(\w+)(?::(\w+))?}             ${var3} or ${var3:fmt3}
+   */
+  private regex = /\$(\w+)|\[\[([\s\S]+?)(?::(\w+))?\]\]|\${(\w+)(?::(\w+))?}/g;
   private index = {};
   private grafanaVariables = {};
   private builtIns = {};
@@ -89,6 +95,9 @@ export class TemplateSrv {
         }
 
         var escapedValues = _.map(value, kbn.regexEscape);
+        if (escapedValues.length === 1) {
+          return escapedValues[0];
+        }
         return '(' + escapedValues.join('|') + ')';
       }
       case 'lucene': {
@@ -140,8 +149,8 @@ export class TemplateSrv {
 
     str = _.escape(str);
     this.regex.lastIndex = 0;
-    return str.replace(this.regex, (match, g1, g2) => {
-      if (this.index[g1 || g2] || this.builtIns[g1 || g2]) {
+    return str.replace(this.regex, (match, var1, var2, fmt2, var3) => {
+      if (this.index[var1 || var2 || var3] || this.builtIns[var1 || var2 || var3]) {
         return '<span class="template-variable">' + match + '</span>';
       }
       return match;
@@ -167,11 +176,11 @@ export class TemplateSrv {
     var variable, systemValue, value;
     this.regex.lastIndex = 0;
 
-    return target.replace(this.regex, (match, g1, g2) => {
-      variable = this.index[g1 || g2];
-
+    return target.replace(this.regex, (match, var1, var2, fmt2, var3, fmt3) => {
+      variable = this.index[var1 || var2 || var3];
+      format = fmt2 || fmt3 || format;
       if (scopedVars) {
-        value = scopedVars[g1 || g2];
+        value = scopedVars[var1 || var2 || var3];
         if (value) {
           return this.formatValue(value.value, format, variable);
         }
@@ -212,15 +221,15 @@ export class TemplateSrv {
     var variable;
     this.regex.lastIndex = 0;
 
-    return target.replace(this.regex, (match, g1, g2) => {
+    return target.replace(this.regex, (match, var1, var2, fmt2, var3) => {
       if (scopedVars) {
-        var option = scopedVars[g1 || g2];
+        var option = scopedVars[var1 || var2 || var3];
         if (option) {
           return option.text;
         }
       }
 
-      variable = this.index[g1 || g2];
+      variable = this.index[var1 || var2 || var3];
       if (!variable) {
         return match;
       }
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/graphite/query_ctrl.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/graphite/query_ctrl.ts
index 29ff29b7ae3..0563de61705 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/graphite/query_ctrl.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/graphite/query_ctrl.ts
@@ -348,6 +348,10 @@ export class GraphiteQueryCtrl extends QueryCtrl {
     let tagKey = tag.key;
     return this.datasource.getTagValuesAutoComplete(tagExpressions, tagKey, valuePrefix).then(values => {
       let altValues = _.map(values, 'text');
+      // Add template variables as additional values
+      _.eachRight(this.templateSrv.variables, variable => {
+        altValues.push('${' + variable.name + ':regex}');
+      });
       return mapToDropdownOptions(altValues);
     });
   }