Is Super Premium Vodka Worth It?
Regular readers probably know that I think it’s wasteful to buy top shelf vodka, especially when Smirnoff was ranked The NY Times’s favorite. Plus, you could use a simple water filter to improve that horrible plastic handle of piss that’s supposedly vodka.
However, not everyone agrees. Anne Brockhoff at The Kansas City Star chimes in with the latest differing opinion. Although vodka is ostensibly odorless, tasteless, and colorless, the best “retain the character of whatever grain, vegetable or fruit they were crafted from”. She cites Hangar One made from grapes and wheat, Ciroc made from grapes, Chopin made from potatoes, and Level made from wheat. (Ironically, two out of four may not even be known as vodkas in the near future if the EU bill passes.)
Personally, I can see what she’s saying, and I can definitely notice a difference in quality among vodkas. However, the difference in quality doesn’t necessarily correspond to price. Of course, YMMV due to differing palates, which is probably why I’m a horrible wine critic.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
This is definitely the latest uproar in the world of vodka, but I don’t quite get it because it’s a long-held standard in the world of wine.
I mean, can *anyone* taste the difference between an 88 point wine and a 93 point wine? On blind taste tests there are probably 20 people in the *world* who might get most of them right. The rest of us are left reading their points system.
So, some bottles of wine suck and cost $70, others are great and cost $18. Vodka, whiskies, and tequila’s are no different.
May 21st, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Well, I’ve never felt compelled to sit down and do a side-by-side comparison of vodkas, but I just can’t see the product justifying the stratospheric price of things like Grey Goose and Ketel One. I’ve tried both and find them pleasant enough, but really neutral. For neutral, I buy Finlandia especially since I usually mix vodka (if I drink it at all).
I haven’t had Chopin. For potato vodka, I buy Monopolowa, from Vienna at about $11-13 a bottle depending on the taxes in your jurisdiction (and whether or not Trader Joe’s is allowed to sell liquor).