martini glass

Which Bond had the biggest bar tab?

author: Adele Kitchen

By Adele Kitchen

It’s no secret that James Bond is partial to a tipple when on duty. With a lot of his official business taking place in casinos, bars, and luxury hotels, you can’t really blame him for being tempted on occasion.

However, as an employee of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6 in the movies) his expenses come directly from the pocket of UK taxpayers. With this in mind, we set out to find which 007 has racked up the biggest bar tab on the public’s dime. Those vodka martinis aren’t free, after all.

In his long and storied espionage career between Dr No (1962) and Spectre (2015), Commander James Bond has racked up a drinks bill of £5,401. That’s £107 per hour he’s on-screen.

But who is the main offender? Our research revealed that Roger Moore’s Bond was by far the booziest with a tab of £2,427 during his tenure, an average of £347 per assignment. 

Booziest Bonds

Total Bar Tab

Average Bar Tab

Roger Moore

£2,427

£347

Sean Connery

£1,271

£212

Daniel Craig

£798

£200

Pierce Brosnan

£773

£193

Timothy Dalton

£76

£38

George Lazenby

£56

£56

Taking the second-place spot is Sean Connery with a total drink spend of £1,271, and currently coming in third – with one more chance to move up the rankings with No Time to Die – is Daniel Craig at £798.

Going back to the iconic beverage that Bond is best known for, it’s Daniel Craig who guzzles the most. He’s the only 007 to hit double digits in his films with a total of 11 martinis. George Lazenby may have come last in this section of the liquor leaderboard, but he still managed to find time to order one during his only appearance in the role, so cheers to that. 

Booziest Bonds

Martini Total

Most Boozy Mission

Roger Moore

4

Live and Let Die: £730

Sean Connery

6

Thunderball: £590

Daniel Craig

11

Casino Royale: £332

Pierce Brosnan

3

The World is Not Enough: £297

George Lazenby

1

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: £56

Timothy Dalton

3

License to Kill: £39

Out of all the superspy’s missions, Live and Let Die proved to be the most expensive in terms of alcohol spend at an eye-watering £730. Not so surprising when you consider the two bottles of expensive champagne Roger Moore shells out for alongside other assorted spirits. The most frugal Bond that has ever been when on assignment was Timothy Dalton’s appearance in License to Kill where he only spends £39 on booze. 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.

*Ocean Finance study covers all 24 official Bond films from ‘Dr. No’ to ‘Spectre’ (excludes ‘Never Say Never Again’ which isn’t in the official Eon Productions canon), full data available on request.

Disclaimer: We make every effort to ensure that content is correct at the time of publication. Please note that information published on this website does not constitute financial advice, and we aren’t responsible for the content of any external sites.

martini glass martini glass