Le Carré's Smiley and other characters did a lot of drinking and smoking; the Cold War started mid-last century, so it wasn't unprofessional to drink on the job, yet. The Le Carré Podcast did an ep. last week on booze in the novels; blog notes for the episode list all the booze varieties, including brands. Guesses for which SM Scotch was name-checked? (preview image is a give-away for the Blend.) https://lecarrecast.substack.com/p/drinker-tailor-soldier-spy

Posted by bill.n1vux at 2026-03-20 03:32:39 UTC