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Pairing James Bond Films With Whisky?

james bond pixabay barrelWhen you think of James Bond, do you think of the "shaken, not stirred martini?" Then you have missed a whole other side to the character.

In the books, Ian Fleming often had his protagonist guzzeling down pints of bourbon, or scotch, or drinking Suntory in Japan. James Bond was an equal opportunity drinker - whisky, champagne, beer...he rarely saw something with alcohol and turned it down. And he drank a LOT of whisky.

So why do so many people insist he is the reason for a whisky depression in the 60s, 70s, and 80s?

Did James Bond Cause a Whisky Depression? (Podcast)

So after watching the latest installment "No Time To Die" I decided it was time to watch all 25 EON films and the Sean Connery non-sanctioned "Never Say Never Again" and rank them from number 26 to number 1 - discussing them and pairing whiskies with them along the way.

How This Top 26 Ranking Is Different

Daniel Craig image courtesy of https://pixabay.com/photos/daniel-craig-daniel-craig-1829795/As with any of these countdowns, this is completely subjective. We all like different elements of James Bond films, so no two countdowns will be the same. But in this case, rather than just arbitrarily ranking them, I actually created a spreadsheet with 17 different Bond-worthy categories that cover the critical elements that (almost) every James Bond film contains. Then to take it a step further, I decided to pair each movie up with an appropriate whisky (this is a whisky journal after all).

Ranking Methodology

The categories are each given their own score on a 10 point scale (10 being incredible, 5 being average, 1 being embarrassing) and then I add them together and average them out. The categories include: Opening sequence, music, Bond performance, the main villain, Bond girl, supporting cast, story, locations, action, gadgets, cool scenes, style, humor, car, set design, opening graphics, and watches.

The whiskies I pair do not necessarily appear in the movies. In fact, most don't. But I will give my specific reason for each pairing as I feel they either best represent the character of the movie or they are a great way to take your mind off how much of a clunker a few of them are.

Everything from Dr. No to Casino Royale (2006), including Never Say Never Again, which was a non-EON production starring Sean Connery. I did not include Peter Seller's Casino Royale spoof, I have never been able to finish it. As for Barry Nelson's 1950s Casino Royale from the CBS television drama "Climax!" I think it is well worth a watch for any James Bond fan, but you'll likely learn why James Bond should always be a British (or Irish) actor.

Let's Do This! From #26 to #1

Time to get Tattooed with: #26 - The Man With The Golden Gun