The Spy Who Loved Me

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“There was just one good drink left in the quart of Virginia Gentleman bourbon that had already lasted me two weeks, and I filled one of the best cut-glass tumblers with ice cubes and poured the bourbon over them, shaking the bottle to get out the last drop.” —Chapter 2

Published: 1962.

Overview: This experimental novel, written in the first person, follows the misadventures of Vivienne Michel, a plucky Canadian 23-year-old. She’s in a real pickle: two small-time hoods plan to rub her out so they can start an insurance fire in a New York State motel. But Vivienne is saved at the last minute by the arrival of a mysterious English stranger.

What does Bond drink?

• Bond (who is only in the story for about six hours) does not have a single drink. In order to stay alert, he takes two Benzedrine tablets with some coffee just before midnight.

Other people’s drinks:

• We learn that during the tourist season, the Dreamy Pines Motor Court receives liquor deliveries twice a day from nearby Lake George.
• Inside the motel lobby, Vivienne fixes herself a bourbon on the rocks, finishing off a quart bottle of Virginia Gentleman that she’s been working on for two weeks.

  Wait a minute. I thought all bourbon had to be from Kentucky. Actually, there is no such requirement. Bourbons have also been distilled in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Virginia Gentleman (produced by A. Smith Bowman) is probably the best-known.

• As Vivienne reminisces about her past, several drinks are mentioned, including pink champagne, gin, vodka and Beaujolais wine. On the day she lost her virginity to Derek Mallaby, she drank three gin and tonics and part of a bottle of champagne. During her newspaper career, Vivienne was afraid she “was in danger of becoming a hard, if successful, little career girl, smoking too many cigarettes and drinking too many vodka and tonics and eating alone out of tins.”
• Bond asks Vivienne if Sluggsy and Horror have had anything to drink or smoke. When she says no, he adds “It’s only pros that don’t.”

Brand names: Virginia Gentleman bourbon.

Total: Zero.