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GUEST COLUMN: A License to Swill: Which James Bond Had the Biggest Bar Tab?

It’s no secret that James Bond is partial to a martini. A lot of his official business takes places in casinos, bars, and luxury hotels – all of which are enticing spots for a tipple or two, even when on duty.  

However, as an employee of M16 in the movies (Secret Intelligence Service in real-life), his expenses come directly from the pockets of UK taxpayers. With this in mind, personal finance experts, Ocean Finance, wanted to uncover which of the six Bonds is the booziest, racking up the biggest bar tabs with the nation’s money. 

To do this, Ocean Finance watched all 24 official Bond films from ‘Dr. No’ to ‘Spectre’ (excluding ‘Never Say Never Again’ as this isn’t in the official Eon Productions canon), and analysed how many alcoholic beverages each Bond go through, as well as the total cost of the bar tab.

1. Roger Moore - £2,427 bar tab

Ocean Finance’s research revealed that Roger Moore’s Bond was by far the booziest with a tab of £2,427 during his tenure, which works out to be an average of £347 per assignment. 

However, the high bill is mostly due to his blow-out of booze in the 007 movie ‘Live and Let Die’. In this, he spent an eye-watering £730, which included two bottles of expensive champagne, alongside other assorted spirits.

2. Sean Connery - £1,271 bar tab

Taking the second-place spot is Sean Connery with a total drink spend of £1,271, working out to be an average bar tab of £212 per assignment. He was also the first Bond to request Smirnoff in his martini, as shown in the 1962 hit, ‘Dr. No’. The waiter hands him a martini in the hotel suite, about 25 minutes in the movie, and says, “One medium-dry vodka martini – mixed like you said, sir, not stirred.” 

3. Daniel Craig - £798 bar tab

Currently, coming in third – with one more chance to move up the rankings in the upcoming ‘No Time to Die’ is Daniel Craig at £798. In ‘Quantum of Solace’, his mission is awash with plenty of drink. From beers in Bolivia to scotch in Siena, there’s an alliteration theme. However, the most expensive boozy blow-out takes place when he is drowning his sorrows on the way to Bolivia and spends a lot of time at Virgin Atlantic’s first-class bar. 

Ocean Finance also found Daniel Craig to be the number one Bond for guzzling a martini the most. He’s the Double-0 to hit double digits in his films with a total of 11 martinis.

4. Pierce Brosnan - £773 bar tab

In fourth place, we have Piers Brosnan with a total bar tab of £773 throughout his appearances in the movies, with an average of £193 per assignment. In ‘Die Another Day’, he is seen partaking in two of his favourite martinis, with plenty of ice as he’s in Cuba, as well as a mojito. Later in the movie, when he is in Hong Kong, Bond scrubs himself up and enjoys an iced bottle of Bollinger, amongst other alcoholic beverages. 

5. Timothy Dalton - £76 bar tab

The second-least Boozy Bond is Timothy Dalton, with his total bar tab estimated to be £76. Whilst Timothy only played Bond twice, he is most famous for ‘The Living Daylights’. His drinking scene comes when he must make an emergency landing because of an imposter-00. When offered a beverage in the aftermath, Bond replies with “better make that two”. Later, he orders a vodka martini, shaken not stirred of course, when he arrives in Austria. 

6. George Lazenby - £56 bar tab

The most frugal that Bond has ever been when on assignment was George Lazenby, as his total tab reached £56 in a single appearance as the superspy. Although not drinking at all whilst trying to save the world may be the better option for both 007 and the taxpayer, we applaud his restraint.

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