Can you, for a day, drink like Winston Churchill?

After losing the 1945 election, he went on holiday to stay at Lake Como, with Sarah, his daughter, and Lord Moran, his doctor. Between them they polished off 96 bottles of champagne in a fortnight; Churchill also drank six or seven whisky and sodas a day, as well as three daily brandies.

His drinking was considered, by some, to be so bad during the “wilderness years” that his friend Lord Rothermere bet him £2,000 he could not give up alcohol during 1936. Churchill refused this bet (£120,000 in today’s money), although he agreed to give up spirits in return for £600. He won, though various people say they saw him down numerous glasses of whisky during the period.

Starts Day with what he called mouthwash, which is whisky and soda which he would drink thru the morning, 560ml of Champagne for lunch the cognac then nap for an hour and a half. Upon waking up a glass of sherry and second pint of champagne. By evening it was port and 90 year old cognac.

The most famous anecdote – the Labour MP Bessie Braddock accusing him of being drunk in the Commons, and he answering “Bessie, you are ugly. But tomorrow I will be sober, and you will still be ugly” – is confirmed by eyewitnesses. But as many point out, he was sober enough to come up with the glorious insult (or, if we are being uncharitable, recycling an old music hall joke).

Essentially he was on a constant ‘hair of the dog’ strategy. Wonder if he kept it up when he was sick - if he ever got sick…

That’s crazy. I’m pretty much useless after a second glass of wine.

All that alcohol in his system would have killed any germs brave enough to get close to him. Brilliant strategy.

For a day? No. Maybe an hour.

could probably do all of that minus the nap. i can never rally after having slept.

Surely the W.C. Fields line from It’s a Gift, “I’m drunk, but you’re a fool and tomorrow I’ll be sober and you’ll still be a fool,” predates Churchill, if he indeed said it. I’ve heard that versions of the line go even farther back than that.

So he was a functioning alcoholic?
That’s cool.

I was going to say exactly that!

+1

That might be more bizarre than the Winston Churchill story.

That makes you two better than me!

Functioning?
And how

Best insight into Winston Churchill is this exchange he had with General Montgomery, who declared: “I do not drink, I do not smoke, I sleep a great deal. That is why I am 100 per cent fit.” Churchill responded: “I drink a great deal, I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am 200 per cent fit.”…

Unfortunately, yes, i do think I could drink like Churchill for a day.

In the not too distant past I was vacationing with family in North Dakota. The entire trip was a boozefest but one particular day was quite epic for me.

Started drinking beers early, probably 9 or 10 am for a golf tournament, put away a case between my foursome followed by another six pack at lunch. Went to the bar and had a couple Beam & Cokes. Back to the house where a few more drinks were consumed. That evening my wife, her cousin and husband and myself decided to stay home while the “adults” went to the casino. My wife’s uncle noticed me drinking bourbon earlier and gave me a brand new fifth of Crown to drink. I drank the fifth dry in a few hours. Upon his return I apologized, was patted on the back and given another fifth, which I had a few more drinks out of before calling it a night.

Most won’t believe this but the next morning I woke up feeling like a million dollars. No headache, not tired, no hangover at all. Out of the four of us I was in the best shape for the day.

I’d have to swap out the Champagne. I would want the sherry dry, I would trade the port for another whiskey and I think I would be fine. Mostly.

I’d be willing to give this a shot.

Been there done that. Except the part about being head of my country’s government during wartime and winning.

Sounds like college - substitute beer and tequila for the champagne and 90 y.o. cognac of course.

Churchill–If not for WW 2, I’m not sure we would have known who he was. Clearly a functioning alcoholic. Remarkable communicator and orator and motivator. Remarkably bad at numerous strategic decisions. If Britain and Churchill were in charge of WW 2 decisions, I’m not sure when the war would have ended. And I’ve heard that his whisky and sodas were rather weak.

The real challenge is to drink like Churchill for two days.