James Bond Book Number One Casino Royale Part I December 16, 2019

Hey peeps!!!! Today's post came about due to a recent conversation with my friend Melvin. We got to talking about the first cocktail that Ian Fleming's spy 007 himself James Bond had in print. For those of you who might not know, James Bond's adventures were first immortalized in print before hitting the big screen. Fleming started writing his spy novels in the 1950's with his first book Casino Royale debuting in 1953.

Casino Royale was the first of 11 novels and a number of short stories that revolved around James Bond. On a side note, due to licensing and other issues surrounding the Bond franchise, the movies were released in a different order than the books were written in. This is why the Daniel Craig debut Bond movie Casino Royale came out in 2006, almost 40 years after the Peter Niven Casino Royale movie that isn't in the Bond movie continuity. But back to the cocktails.

Unlike the movies where Bond is forever known for his Martini, shaken not stirred shtick, the Bond of the books consumes a variety of spirits and cocktails during his missions. Heck, his signature cocktail which would be christened the Vesper Martini in this book isn't even the first drink that Bond has. That distinction belongs to the Americano. Bond is at the Hermitage Bar awaiting the arrival of Mathis and Vesper Lynd when he orders the Milanese cocktail that was known as the Milano-Torino and now the more commonly referred to as the Americano,

I profiled the Americano Cocktail way back in 2012 with my post entitled surprisingly enough Americano (🤣🤣🤣.) Now the Americano can be had in two different ways with its base spirits being the same. Campari and Vermouth Rosso make up the cocktail with the only difference is the addition of club soda. Here is how the Campari website describes the Americano:

A cocktail you'll love at first sip thanks to its special texture and striking mixture of flavors. There are many legends and stories about how this cocktails got its name, for sure the Americano is one of James Bond's favourite cocktails (he ordered one in 007 Casino Royale). The Americano is part of the official cocktail list of the IBA (international bartending association) and IBA cocktails are prepared all over the world according to this original recipe.

 Well since they mention the recipe for the Americano, here is is:

Americano
- 1 part (1oz, 3cl) Campari
- 1 part (1oz, 3cl) Red Vermouth
- Splash of Soda

Make it
1) Pour the ingredients directly in a old-fashioned glass
2) Fill with ice cubes
3) Add a splash of soda water
4) Garnish with orange slice or lemon peel

Or if you prefer, you can have it without the club soda with the same ratio of Campari and Sweet Vermouth over ice. The choice is yours. Moving on.

After Bond meets CIA Agent Felix Leiter at the casino, they go to the casino bar and Bond orders Felix a Haig-and-Haig on the rocks. Bond orders himself a dry martini which I'll go into a bit later. On to the Haig-and-Haig.

Known for the slogan "Don't Be Vague, Ask For Haig" the John Haig and Company Limited aka Haig-and-Haig has the distinction of being one of the oldest known established Scotch distillers in the world. Apparently there was an incident in 1655 where Robert Haig was taken to task over distilling Scotch over the Sabbath and the records were kept to prove it. Back then this was definitely a No-No on the day of rest. It is believed that the distilling of what is now the Haig line of Scotches goes back to 1627. Haig-and-Haig's line of Scotch whiskies were some of the most popular spirits around the world up to the 1970s and it's no surprise that they would be featured in Ian Fleming's works. Their two most widely found and most popular blended Scotches are virtually the two sides of the same coin.

The Pinch and the Dimple are known for their distinctive three sided bottle with a dimple in the middle of each side. Why do I say virtually the two sides of the same coin? Well Haig-and-Haig would sell the Pinch for the United States market at 86.8 proof (43.4 ALC) while the Dimple was sold in Europe at 80 proof (40 ALC.) Both carry an age statement of 15-years. The age statement would change to 12-yers for more recent versions of the Pinch and Dimple. So when Bond orders Felix a "Haig-and-Haig on the rocks" while in France, we can make an educated guess that he's being poured the 80 proof Dimple and not the 86.8 proof Pinch. So why not just order a Dimple instead of a Haig-and-Haig? Let me try and make another educated guess on that based on some research.

I decide to hit up my trusty The Schweppes Guide to Scotch by Philip Morrice for the answer. According to the book:

Some whiskies are known by different name in different countries. Haig's De Luxe whisky, Dimple, is known as Pinch in the United States, whilst Haig is known there as Haig & Haig after the family offshoot which established itself in the United States many years ago to market Scotch whisky. Similarly, North Americans may be surprised to find that their Dewar's (pronounced Doo-ers, as their advertisements say) is better known in its native land as White Label.

After some issues with rights and ownership in the U.S., the Haig and Haig line became part of the John Haig umbrella in 1925. Even with Prohibition coming and going in the U.S., the Pinch brand was commonly known as Haig-and-Haig. So for Bond ordering a Haig-and-Haig for Felix would lend to the familiarity of having a Pinch on the rocks though in reality he would be having a Dimple on the rocks. Get it? Got it? Good!

And this isn't a one off for Bond and Felix enjoying some Haig-and-Haig. No sir, the Haig-and-Haig Scotch is enjoyed by both gentlemen in later Bond stories that I will get to in later posts. But let's stay at the Hotel Royale-les-Eaux for the next part of the post where I highlight the appearance of Bond's signature drink and the preferred vodka type that Bond likes for said cocktail. Keep your eyes peeled for it!!!

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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