Champagne shows up in more of James Bond’s films than any other drink, with the vodka martini close behind. But his on-screen bar runs much deeper than those two. Across six decades he drinks bourbon, gin, rum, sake, raki, sherry, cognac, tequila, Scotch, claret and beer.
So here’s the shopping list. These are the 18 bottles you need to pour what Bond actually drinks in the films, sorted into three budgets. The rules:
- Only drinks Bond drinks on screen. Drinks he turns down, drinks that are only offered, and vintages he only name-drops are out.
- Every brand is labeled: either with the brand named on screen, or with a brand Bond would have on his own shelf.
- Prices come from recent online price checks, for a 750ml bottle unless noted. They vary by store and change often. Pound prices come from UK shops, where spirits usually come in 70cl bottles. Price levels follow the US prices; UK prices are separate shop checks.
Level 1: Licensed to Pour (Under $55)
The starter shelf. Every bottle here costs less than a cab ride across Monte Carlo, and together they cover most of what Bond orders.
1. Smirnoff Vodka (Dr. No, 1962, through No Time to Die, 2021)
The vodka martini is the drink everyone knows, and it earns the top spot on the shelf: Bond orders one, or someone orders one for him, in 13 films. It starts in Dr. No, where room service brings a medium-dry vodka martini and Dr. No himself has one made for his guest, shaken, not stirred. Brands change with the partnership deals, and the bottle is rarely on camera, but Smirnoff is the one seen behind the bar in Cuba in No Time to Die. Our favorite order is still the one from Casino Royale, right after Le Chiffre cleans him out at the poker table, when the bartender asks shaken or stirred and Bond answers: “Do I look like I give a damn?”
Price: $15 / £19.50. Makes: the vodka martini.
2. Heineken and Red Stripe (Dr. No, 1962; Skyfall, 2012; Spectre, 2015; No Time to Die, 2021)
Bond’s beer habit is older than the fuss about it. When Heineken paid to put a bottle in his hand for Skyfall, plenty of fans acted as if 007 had never touched the stuff. He had a Red Stripe in Jamaica in Dr. No, back in 1962. The Heineken does turn up for real in his “enjoying death” stretch on the beach in Skyfall, again in Spectre while he keeps watch at a hotel in Tangier, and again in a Jamaican bar with Felix in No Time to Die. Buy both and you can pour his first beer and his latest one.
Price: Heineken $9.99 (6-pack) / £13.50 (12-pack); Red Stripe $8.99 / £7.75, sold out (6-packs).
3. Jim Beam Bourbon (Goldfinger, 1964; The Living Daylights, 1987; GoldenEye, 1995)
Bourbon turns up all over the series. At Goldfinger’s Kentucky stud farm Bond takes a mint julep and asks for it made with “sour mash, but not too sweet.” In GoldenEye, the new M pours him a glass in her office, telling him she prefers bourbon. Jim Beam is made in Kentucky, so it would fit right in at Auric Stud, and Felix hands Bond a glass on his boat in The Living Daylights.
Price: $18 / £22.95. Makes: the mint julep.
4. Gordon’s Gin (Goldfinger, 1964; Casino Royale, 2006; Quantum of Solace, 2008)
The Vesper recipe starts with “Three measures of Gordon’s,” and Bond spells it out to the barman in Casino Royale. In Quantum of Solace a bartender recites the same recipe after Bond has had six of them on a flight to Bolivia. Gordon’s also stocks Goldfinger’s private jet, with no vodka in sight. That means the martini Bond orders there, shaken, not stirred, was almost certainly gin.
Price: $11.99 / £19.50. Makes: the Vesper and the Goldfinger martini.
5. Lillet Blanc (Casino Royale, 2006; Quantum of Solace, 2008)
The Vesper calls for half a measure of Kina Lillet, and you can’t buy that anymore. The recipe was reformulated in 1986 into a lighter, less bitter aperitif, and Lillet Blanc is today’s version. The Quantum of Solace bartender makes a point of saying Kina Lillet is not vermouth, so don’t swap in vermouth and call it a Vesper.
Price: $22.99 / £18.95. Makes: the Vesper.
6. Raki (From Russia with Love, 1963)
At the Romani camp outside Istanbul, Kerim Bey pours raki, the anise spirit of Turkey, and calls it filthy stuff. Bond drinks it anyway. It’s the most honest review in the series. The film never shows a label. We picked Yeni Raki, a classic Turkish brand that’s easy to order online.
Our Pick: Yeni Raki, $29.99 / £30.50.
7. Sake (You Only Live Twice, 1967)
On his private train under Tokyo, Tiger Tanaka offers Bond sake or a vodka martini. Bond picks the sake and says he likes it best at the right temperature, 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is body temperature. Tanaka tells him he’s exceptionally cultivated, for a European. Warm sake calls for a rich, traditional style, not the delicate kind served cold, and a host like Tanaka would pour a good one. So we’ll go with Kurosawa Junmai Kimoto, brewed by kimoto, the slow, old-fashioned method.
Our Pick: Kurosawa Junmai Kimoto, $27.99 (720ml). We couldn’t find it at a UK shop.
8. Sherry (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
Sir Donald Munger offers sherry. M declines, and Bond tells him it’s a pity about his liver. Then Bond names the sherry as an unusually fine Solera, “’51,” and when M snaps that sherry has no vintage, Bond explains he meant the 1851 year the solera was started from. It’s the most showing-off Bond does in front of his boss. The film doesn’t say which style, so we chose an amontillado from Lustau, a respected Jerez house that’s easy to find.
Our Pick: Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado, $19.99 / £21.75.
9. Blackwell Rum (No Time to Die, 2021)
Retired in Jamaica, Bond comes home with Nomi and pours himself a glass of Blackwell, a Jamaican dark rum. It suits a man who has given up the job and kept the drinking.
Price: $38.99 / £38.50.
Level 2: Double-0 Status ($55 to $250)
The named bottles. This is where Bond starts ordering by brand.
1. Bollinger Special Cuvée (Live and Let Die, 1973, through Spectre, 2015)
Bollinger is Bond’s champagne for most of the series, named or on screen in at least eight films. He orders a bottle “slightly chilled” to his hotel room in Live and Let Die, spots one in Holly’s Venice hotel room in Moonraker and takes the ’69 as a personal invitation, orders the ’75 in A View to a Kill and the ’61 in Die Another Day. The Special Cuvée is the house’s non-vintage blend and the bottle you can actually find. Bond orders his by the year. Leave the year off yours and the label still says Bollinger, which is the part your guests will read.
Price: $69.99 / £45 (on offer from £60).
2. Dom Pérignon 2015 (Goldfinger, 1964; Thunderball, 1965; You Only Live Twice, 1967; OHMSS, 1969)
Before Bollinger, there was Dom. In Goldfinger, Bond says Dom Pérignon ’53 shouldn’t be drunk above 38 degrees Fahrenheit. He orders the ’55 with Beluga caviar at the casino in Thunderball, accepts a glass of the ’59 in Osato’s office in You Only Live Twice after first saying it’s too early, and orders the ’57 at the casino in OHMSS. We priced the 2015.
Price: $249.97 / £250, sold out (2015), $3,238 / £1,030, sold out (1955).
3. Talisker 10 (The World Is Not Enough, 1999; Die Another Day, 2002)
M pours Bond a whisky at MI6 in The World Is Not Enough. According to Bond Lifestyle, Talisker supplied the whisky in that film and in Die Another Day, where Bond drinks whisky again. It’s a smoky Isle of Skye single malt, and an easy way to put a Scotch on the shelf that Bond actually drank on screen.
Price: $70.99 / £54.
4. Cognac (Goldfinger, 1964)
At dinner at the Bank of England, Colonel Smithers offers Bond more of a brandy he admits is disappointing. Bond agrees, calls it a 30-year-old Fine, “indifferently blended,” and blames an overdose of Bons Bois, one of Cognac’s lesser growing areas. These are not compliments. A Bond bar deserves an old cognac made only from Cognac’s two best growing areas, with no Bons Bois filler, so we’ll go with Rémy Martin XO.
Our Pick: Rémy Martin XO, $179.99 / £165.
5. Mount Gay Rum (Casino Royale, 2006)
The first drink of the Craig era: at the Ocean Club bar in the Bahamas, Bond orders a “large Mount Gay with soda” before talking his way into a poker game. The film doesn’t say which Mount Gay, and nobody we found has identified the bottle. A luxury resort bar, a high-stakes table and a large pour all point to the good stuff, so we’re assuming it’s Mount Gay XO.
Price: $58.99 / £57.95.
Level 3: On Her Majesty’s Expense Account (Over $250)
The cellar. Bond orders these by name, and none of them is cheap.
1. Bollinger R.D. (The Living Daylights, 1987; Licence to Kill, 1989; Spectre, 2015)
R.D. means “recently disgorged,” a vintage champagne aged for years before release. In The Living Daylights, Bond brings the defector a Harrods hamper and explains he swapped in Bollinger R.D. because “the brand on the list was questionable.” In Licence to Kill he checks into a hotel suite in Isthmus City and orders a whole case. In Spectre, after dealing with the men sent to kill Lucia Sciarra, he pours two glasses at her villa. Bollinger has said the champagne in the film is the R.D. 2002. The 2008 is the current release.
Price: $399.99 / £300.
2. Château Angélus 2021 (Casino Royale, 2006; No Time to Die, 2021)
On the train to Montenegro, Bond and Vesper share a bottle of Château Angélus 1982 with dinner, per the Dossier. Fifteen years later in No Time to Die, he pours the same estate’s red at Q’s flat for himself and Moneypenny. It’s one of Saint-Émilion’s top estates, and it bookends the Craig films.
Price: $279.97 / £284.69 (2021), about $451 / £375, sold out (1982).
3. Mouton Rothschild 2022 (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
On the cruise ship at the end of the film, two waiters serve Bond a Mouton Rothschild ’55. He mentions he’d expected a claret, and the waiter says the cellar is short on clarets. Mouton Rothschild is a claret. That, and the aftershave, is how Bond knows the waiters are Wint and Kidd. This is the only bottle on the list that works as a lie detector.
If you want to splurge for the ’55, it runs about $5,770 a bottle. The listing we found is a six-bottle case.
Price: $759.97 / £940 (2022), about $5,770 (1955).
4. Tequila (No Time to Die, 2021)
After he and Paloma get out of the SPECTRE party in Cuba, Bond pours them both a shot of tequila from a square bottle on the bar. Fans have spotted “7 years” on the label, but nobody has read the brand. So we matched the one clue we have, the age. Fuenteseca Reserva is an extra añejo aged seven years, from master distiller Enrique Fonseca. It’s also the only tequila Bond drinks in the series, by our count.
Our Pick: Fuenteseca Reserva 7 Year Extra Añejo, $299.99 (on sale from $319.99) / £365.
James Bond Drinks: Quick Answers
What does James Bond drink most?
Champagne. It shows up in more of his films than any other drink, with the vodka martini close behind.
What champagne does James Bond drink?
Dom Pérignon in the 1960s films, then Bollinger, which is named or seen in at least eight films, starting with Live and Let Die.
What vodka does James Bond drink?
The films rarely show the bottle. Smirnoff is the one identified in No Time to Die.
What is the Vesper?
Bond’s own cocktail from Casino Royale: three measures of Gordon’s gin, one of vodka and half a measure of Kina Lillet, shaken, with a thin slice of lemon peel.
Can you still buy Kina Lillet?
No. The recipe was reformulated in 1986, and Lillet Blanc is today’s version.
Does James Bond drink beer?
Yes. Red Stripe in Dr. No, and Heineken in Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die.
Does James Bond drink tequila?
Once, by our count: in Cuba in No Time to Die.