When Felix Leiter and James Bond meet in the King Cole Bar at the St Regis in Live and Let Die prior to heading out to Harlem, they have martinis while making plans for the night.
Leiter ordered medium-dry Martinis with a slice of lemon peel. He stipulated House of Lords gin and Martini Rossi. The American gin, a much higher proof than English gin, tasted harsh to Bond. He reflected that he would have to be careful what he drank that evening.
House of Lords gin was a brand put out by Booth’s Gin, which was founded around 1740 – in London. Fleming referring to it as “American gin” is a little confusing to me, unless he means that the gin imported to America is a higher proof than what is available in England. (Note: After checking with @007Dossier on Twitter, he suggests that it may have been a mixup on Fleming’s part in terms of the proof. 80 proof in the U.S. would’ve been 70 proof in the UK.) I haven’t found any evidence of this, however. All advertisements that I’ve found for the gin show it to be a 86 proof.
Martini and Rossi is perhaps the most well-known brand of Vermouth in the world. The company had its origins in 1840, and was renamed Martini, Sola & Cia in 1863 before becoming Martini & Rossi in 1879.
in the french version of “casino royale” Bond use Booth for his cocktail . Not Gordon.
This may explain Fleming’s confuzzlement–Booth’s High and Dry was 80 proof in England and 90 proof in the US. The below review also notes that it has a harsh and “hot” aftertaste; they were tasting the Yank version.
https://theginisin.com/gin-reviews/booths-high-and-dry-gin/
This site notes that House of Lords was produced exclusively for export; there was no English version.. (Difficulties with using the House of Lords moniker in England without being “by appointment to” or similar?)
https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/17174/booths-dry-gin-house-of-lords-bot1960s
Wasn’t the proof calculations for America and Great Britain different? This was before they used abv
we make House of Lords Gin for Parliament, worth noting that the US Proof is double that of the UK ABV which is the alcohol volume. ie US 80% Proof is UK 40%abv or 86% Proof is UK 43% abv. The latest batch of House of Lords Gin which is a limited edition of 500 bottles (and its made in London by a bunch of Plumbers) is UK 40.4% abv or US 80.8% Proof. Hope this helps.
Sir, how would one purchase one of those 500?
Sorry I should have added, is this the same gin I was able to purchase back in the ’70s?
The UK abv is half of the US Proof, ie US Proof is 90% then the UK is 45%abv
The only gin worth drinking, House of Lords. Wish it was still available in the US.