Quote Originally Posted by Gnoman View Post
There's two big issues with most reproductions of the Vesper you see today. One is that virtually all use 80 proof vodka and gin because that's the default - Fleming's version would have been 100 proof. The other, more important, issue is that Kina Lillit hasn't been made since 1986, and the Lillit Blanc usually used as a substitute has a dramatically different flavor profile. Experiments trying to factor that in have produced tolerable results by some reports.

That said, the primary reason the Vesper in that form (as opposed to a simple Vodka Martini) never appears again is the Fleming copied thenrecipe from a friend and hadn't tried it before including it in the novel. When he did, he disliked it immensely.
I always thought that it kind of works with the storyline. When Bond gives the drink that name he has a massive crush on Vesper and so is doing stuff like naming things after her. After he gets burned, he never says her name ever again.