By Adam Bloodworth
James Bond fans don’t make as much noise as other fandoms. They’re barely heard against the racket of Star Wars and Marvel obsessives, who dress up and quote each other. Perhaps that’s because Bond fans are chasing more sophisticated pleasures.
One such pleasure is the new James Bond-themed cocktail menu at Baccarat bar at Harrods. Six cocktails have been made from a special whisky blend by Macallan, now partners with EON Productions who make the Bond films. Baccarat Bar is certainly a sophisticated pleasure. All alarming reds and panels of mirrored glass, it’s decked out with so many shiny-pretty fittings it feels like sitting down might ruin the Feng shui.
It is here where the new Bond cocktails are served on jet black menus designed for a fun little game of espionage-lite. I’m given a torch and learn that shining it on the page reveals the hidden list. I’ve had my spy moment, but now I’m ready for my cocktail. They include ingredients such as black cardamom, ginger, fermented spices, and split coffee milk liqueur, along with a dream of the special James Bond blend.
I try a ‘Decade V’, which is described as full bodied, complex and balanced. I’ve always fancied being complex and balanced, plus the noughties – the fifth decade of the Bonds – was the decade of my teens, when I first drank, and first watched Bond at the cinema, so it’s fitting. It’s sweet, with a sherbet lemon vibe. It opens out into something with a much warmer mouthfeel, with notes of spice and marzipan.
My drink is served in a tall, elegant glass handmade by the Macallan team over a whopping 48 hours. The Bond whisky has already sold out in the store upstairs, and bottles of it are going for £3,000 online, quite the mark-up from the £700 sale price. “They’re not going near a cask less than eight years old,” a barman tells me of Macallan’s blending process while I drink.
Made “a bit like a phenomenal chef makes a dish,” through trial and experimentation, it’s well worth trying a dram straight for the proper experience. Upstairs in the Harrods window, items including the original Little Nellie from You Only Live Twice, and Oddjob’s hat from Goldfinger, form an interesting partner exhibition that’s worth spending half an hour wandering through on the way to the bar.
Back downstairs, and a man sits down behind me and prepares his flash light. It’s 4pm on a Monday but James Bond fans know how to drink.
The cocktails and display items are at Harrods until 21 March
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