There's a remarkable moment in Ian Fleming's debut novel Casino Royale (1953), which first introduces the British man of mystery and secret agent, James Bond. As early as chapter seven, 007 meets CIA agent Felix Leiter for a drink; Bond looks at the barman and first orders his trademark cocktail.

"A dry martini," says Bond. "One. In a deep champagne goblet. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large, thin slice of lemon-peel." Bond then turns to Leiter: "This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name." The following night, Bond christens it the Vesper, after the woman he has just met and ultimately falls in love with – sidekick Vesper Lynd.

What makes the reference all the more remarkable is that, over the series of James Bond novels, which contain no less than 122 references to bespoke champagnes such as Dom Pérignon and Krug, this is Fleming's first and only reference to any recipe for a dry martini. It's proof that a little Lillet has come a very long way – 66 years, in fact.

It's come some way before that, too. The wine-based aperitif hails from Podensac, a small village south of Bordeaux in the heart of the Graves vineyards region, adjacent to Sauternes. Founded in 1872 by Paul and Raymond Lillet as Maison Lillet Frères – a merchant of fine wines, liqueurs and spirits – the brothers were smart entrepreneurs and remarkable connoisseurs. The drink was originally called Kina Lillet because it contained a small amount of Peruvian cinchona bark known as Kina; as quinine is a component of the bark, it was both fashionable and medicinal in its day, as it was thought to allay symptoms of malaria and prevent mosquito bites.

Lillet won a gold medal at the Universal Exposition of 1900 in Paris, proclaiming itself as "very agreeable to the taste, drunk by the most delicate people, at any age, to their great benefit". During the Roaring Twenties and the '30s, it took off; in that era, British bon vivant Harry Craddock, the man behind London's famous Savoy Cocktail Book, included no less than 22 Lillet-based cocktail recipes.

So what's its secret? Lillet consists of Bordeaux wines – 85% semillon, muscadelle and merlot – combined with 15% liqueurs that are obtained by macerating sweet and bitter Spanish and North African oranges and their peels in alcohol for several months. It's traditionally matured in oak vats for eight to 12 months, during which time it receives the same careful attention as Bordeaux grand cru wines, undergoing fining, racking and filtering. While similar to vermouth, Lillet espouses greater versatility, with distinct flavours of honey, orange, lime and mint.

Lillet won many fans in its heyday, among which was the trend-setting Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, who insisted that high-end venues should carry the drink, including the Ritz and George V hotels in Paris, as well as stately ocean liners crossing the Atlantic. (She allegedly travelled with her own bottle.) And so it became a fashionable tipple among the high-society set and was even quaffed by Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

As an aperitif, Lillet – owned by Pernod Ricard since 2008 – can be drunk with ice and a slice of orange or lime, or as a long drink with the addition of tonic water, or with sangria. Most fashionably right now, it can be added to the negroni. Live a little; live a Lillet. Santé!