[imagesource: YouTube / Belvedere]

Daniel Craig looks like the kind of bloke that it would be fun to share a beer with.

Insert obligatory James Bond reference about ordering your martini shaken, not stirred, in order to avoid raising his ire.

Craig’s 007 days are behind him and while speculation continues as to who will take over that iconic character, he appears to be moving on in quite some style.

Goodbye, hard man image and hello “funky, hot, preening dance club” Craig.

Variety is positively gushing about his latest performance:

If the new vodka commercial, starring Daniel Craig and directed by Taika Waititi, were a scene out of Craig’s latest film, it would be the best scene in the movie, or at least the one that everyone’s talking about.

Then again, no one would mistake it for a movie scene. The commercial has a postmodern strike-a-pose viral aesthetic — it‘s two minutes of bliss frozen in time.

It does look like he had a good time filming the ad, too:

CNN went as far as to say “the 54-year-old sheds the secret agent and unleashes his inner disco diva, shimmying, thrusting and gyrating on the street and then around a hotel”.

The ad has racked up millions of views across social media and on the whole, the public’s reaction is positive. Craig may not be bothered either way, given that he no doubt scored a huge payday for the role.

If I’m buying vodka these days, having long since written off Russian Bear and learned lessons from a misspent youth, I’m happy to fork out a little extra for quality.

Belvedere retails for anywhere between R400 and R550 but I’d rather support local and buy the unique Albatross Vodka, distilled from a selection of the finest Cape Grapes and the purified water of the Table Mountain aquifer.

The end result is a pure, classy vodka with brilliant character and depth.

Hold it up to the light, give it a little swizzle, and you’ll find subtle fruit aromas with complex, round flavours and a silky-smooth finish.

007 would also be happy to know that it can more than hold its own in martinis shaken, stirred, or dirty:

 

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The name is derived from the majestic bird that has managed to tame the wild, wind-swept, and treacherous southern ocean environment, with its independent spirit instilled in every drop of Albatross Vodka.

It’s one of five beautifully crafted and uniquely South African products made by Kinship Spirits, each steeped in symbolism.

Whatever you’re drinking, I hope it puts as much of a pep in your step as Craig showed off this week.

Come to the end of the year, you have more than earned it.

[sources:variety&cnn]