Tastes

Tasted neat at room temperature side-by-side with Kirkland French Vodka. I'm not a vodka fan, certainly not a vodka snob. This started because my wife and I really like a Cajun Martini (https://www.liquor.com/cajun-martini-cocktail-recipe-5218591) pool-side and I needed to buy vodka. Naturally I wanted to know which is the best to get and that's how I started tasting mid-shelf vodkas. ,On ithe nose there is a very slight sugary cake-frosting note to the Wheatley that I don't get from the Kirkland. They are very, very close and that's why I do these sbs - no way to parse out differences so slight over time based on memory alone. Both smell "like vodka" with the Kirkland giving a slightly more ethanol-centric note. On the palate the Wheatley is definitely sweeter, but also a bit thinner in mouthfeel. The Kirkland is richer, a bit more peppery and has a slight bitterness in a fast finish. The Wheatley is altogether a more approachable, sweeter take while still retaining a significantly neutral personality. This is like comparing "Snowbound" white paint with "Atrium" white paint. Yes they are different but at the end of the day they are white paint. Both are clean and neutral and perhaps sweeter and less hot than Sobieski, thinner and not quite as earthy as Luksusowa, and no where near as transparent in flavor as Smirnoff 100 proof. This bottle set me back about $28 for a handle. The Kirkland is $20. The Sobieski is $17. I have to be honest, I did like the Wheatley best in the Cajun Martini, though. Something about that sweetness. Or was that just the particular pepper I used? Recommended if the additional costs doesn't matter to you. If it does, opt for the Sobieski or Kirkland.

I'm not going to become obsessed with vodka, but my recent consumption of Cajun martinis has me leaning in that direction at this moment in time. While at Costco, I just couldn't resist taking a shot at this expression, reported to be the equivalent of Grey Goose at half the price. I wouldn't know, I don't drink a lot of vodka so I will compare this to the Sobieski, Luksusowa and Smirnoff Blue I've recently reviewed on this site. Tasted in the aforementioned Cajun Martini, 4:1 Vodka Martini, Reverse Martini and neat. On the nose this is slightly sweet, otherwise very neutral. On the palate this retains the sweetness of the nose and adds a rich 'bready' note that reminds me of the center portion of grocery store white bread. It's subtle but adds a "comfort food" vibe to the experience. Of particular note is mouthfeel, which is silky and rich. Nicely creamy with very little pepper or heat, this is a clean and delivers a fast, muted finish. Overall I like this the most of the four vodkas I've examined recently. This is the best balanced by far, and the most interesting on its own. It is at least equal to the Sobieski in the jalapeno concoction where the rye vodka's spicy DNA works with the vegetal elements of the pepper. The Kirkland is better in the other applications where I've tried it. Good price, good value, definitely recommended as a quality house vodka. At $21 for a 1.75 liter bottle, this is an easy buy. One thing I'll add to this - the bottle is stupidly large and heavy. It's tall enough to potentially present some storage issues, as if finding a spot for the Luxardo Maraschino wasn't annoying enough. I score on a simple scale that follows a bell curve. A 1 on this scale is well below average, most mass market offerings will cluster around 2.5. Kirkland French Vodka is a bit ahead of the curve.

I'm not generally a vodka guy. It's not that I don't like vodka, but more along the lines of I don't (or didn't) find it interesting. That is until I recently made a Cajun Martini. My wife and I have likely consumed more vodka in the last 30 days (since first batching this cocktail) than we've drunk in the 12 months before that all together! There's no surprise that inspired me to take a closer look at vodka. First let's define a Cajun Martini. Here's the whole story - https://www.liquor.com/cajun-martini-cocktail-recipe-5218591 The short version to make a 750ml batched cocktail - put 450ml of vodka in a jar with a big, ripe, fresh jalapeno pepper that has been washed and cleanly split in half from stem to end with just one cut. Let the pepper infuse into the vodka for 6 to 8 hours or so. Strain the pepper out and bottle the infused vodka. Add 175ml of Martini & Rossi dry vermouth (this expression has a bit of an oregano note that some folks don't love in a Martini, but it works perfectly in this recipe, imho). Add 100 to 125 ml of distilled water to the batched drink and keep it in the freezer. Serve up in a chilled glass with a spicy pickle as the garnish. So far we've batched this drink with Smirnoff Blue, Sobieski and Luksusowa. To get a better idea of the nature of each vodka we also sampled them neat and neat/freezer-chilled. Here are our thoughts about the Sobieski. This is a Polish vodka made from rye. It was recommended to me by a vodka martini drinking friend who liked it more than Tito's. Trying those two side-by-side left me agreeing that, while the Tito's had a bit of lemony citrus, the Sobieski had better "roundness". On the nose this vodka had a very slightly citrusy note. While the Sobieski didn't have the forward ethanol note of Smirnoff Blue, it was hot. My wife called it "very sharp". As with the other vodkas evaluated, the icy cold freezer pour offered up no aroma beyond slight alcohol. On the tongue this vodka doubled down on being sharp with a bit of a bite. The citrus was in play, though it was behind the peppery aggressive nature of the vodka's rye ancestry. Mouthfeel was rich, but not quite to the level of the Luksusowa. The freezer chilled sample was very thick and rich with a silky finish that left a slightly bitter finish. Sobieski is the yin to Luksusowa's yang, but the differences are slight. My wife chose the Smirnoff as her favorite of the three with the Luksusowa in second place when tasted neat. I chose the opposite and had the Luksusowa as my first choice and the Smirnoff was my second place. We both agreed, however, that the Sobieski offered the best Cajun Martini. Now the problem here is that we have a pretty small statistical sample, having made precisely three batches with Sobieski and one each with Smirnoff and Luksusowa. The difference could well have been the differences in the pepper, which seriously swamps the differences in vodkas. But we both agreed that the Sobieski tended towards a sweeter, "greener" and more vegetal take on the batched cocktail, but we've enjoyed each batch with enthusiasm (and chips with salsa). I like and recommend Sobieski vodka. It's very mixable, good in a Vesper, excellent in a Cajun Martini and at least acceptable in every other vodka application I can think of. I'm not going to become a vodka fanatic and I doubt I'll ever have more than a handle or two hanging about for cocktails. That said, I have a renewed reason to at least pay a bit more attention to those bottles; we'll be drinking a lot more vodka as the sweet, vegetal freshness and slight capsaicin heat of the Cajun Martini keeps us entertained poolside for the foreseeable future.

I'm not generally a vodka guy. It's not that I don't like vodka, but more along the lines of I don't (or didn't) find it interesting. That is until I recently made a Cajun Martini. My wife and I have likely consumed more vodka in the last 30 days (since first batching this cocktail) than we've drunk in the 12 months before that all together! There's no surprise that inspired me to take a closer look at vodka. First let's define a Cajun Martini. Here's the whole story - https://www.liquor.com/cajun-martini-cocktail-recipe-5218591 The short version to make a 750ml batched cocktail - put 450ml of vodka in a jar with a big, ripe, fresh jalapeno pepper that has been washed and cleanly split in half from stem to end with just one cut. Let the pepper infuse into the vodka for 6 to 8 hours or so. Strain the pepper out and bottle the infused vodka. Add 175ml of Martini & Rossi dry vermouth (this expression has a bit of an oregano note that some folks don't love in a Martini, but it works perfectly in this recipe, imho). Add 100 to 125 ml of distilled water to the batched drink and keep it in the freezer. Serve up in a chilled glass with a spicy pickle as the garnish. So far I've batched this drink with Smirnoff Blue, Sobieski and Luksusowa. To get a better idea of the nature of each vodka I also sampled them neat and neat/freezer-chilled. Here are my thoughts about the Luksusowa On the nose this vodka had a slightly sweet, slightly loamy note. This is a potato vodka and maybe its the power of suggestion, but I got less of a refined chemical vibe from this than I did from the Smirnoff Blue that was also included in this side-by-side tasting. There was an alcohol note to the nose but it wasn't nearly as sharp as the Smirnoff, although I wouldn't call this fragrant by any stretch of the imagination. As with the other vodkas evaluated, the icy cold freezer pour offered up almost no aroma. On the tongue this vodka retained its earthy, slightly sweet character. The mouthfeel was more oily than either the Sobieski or the Smirnoff, particularly in the freezer chilled sample. It had a silky finish and left a slightly sweet note that quickly decayed to a soft bitter finish. I would still consider this neutral but in the same way that alabaster white is still neutral, but not nearly as neutrally sterile as arctic white. My wife chose the Smirnoff as her favorite of the three with the Luksusowa in second place when tasted neat. I chose the opposite and had the Luksusowa as my first choice and the Smirnoff was my second place. When it comes to the Cajun Martini there's a monkey wrench in the gears as we both liked the Sobieski best! More about that in the upcoming review of that brand. I can recommend this vodka and I think this might be the one I'd enjoy most in a "traditional" vodka martini (5:1, dash of orange bitters, garnished with a twist). It is very subtle, but there's a bit of personality there that can make it interesting. Plus its an inexpensive way to compare a potato vodka to a rye vodka, to a multi-grain vodka (and maybe more to come). I'm not going to become a vodka fanatic and I doubt I'll ever have more than a handle or two hanging about for cocktails. That said, I have a renewed reason to at least pay a bit more attention to those bottles; we'll be drinking a lot more vodka as the sweet, vegetal freshness and slight capsaicin heat of the Cajun Martini keeps us entertained poolside for the foreseeable future.

I'm not a vodka guy. At all. It's not that I don't like vodka, but more along the lines of I don't (or didn't) find it interesting. That is until I made a Cajun Martini. I've consumed more vodka in the last 30 days since first batching this cocktail than I'd had in the 12 months before that combined. That inspired me to take a closer look at vodka. First let's define a Cajun Martini. Here's the whole story - https://www.liquor.com/cajun-martini-cocktail-recipe-5218591 The short version to make a 750ml batched cocktail - put 450ml of vodka in a jar with a big, ripe, fresh jalapeno pepper that has been washed and cleanly split in half from stem to end with just one cut. Let the pepper infuse into the vodka for 6 to 8 hours or so. Strain the pepper out and bottle the infused vodka. Add 175ml of Martini & Rossi dry vermouth (this expression has a bit of an oregano note that some folks don't love in a Martini, but it works perfectly in this recipe, imho). Add 100 to 125 ml of distilled water to the batched drink and keep it in the freezer. Serve up in a chilled glass with a spicy pickle as the garnish. So far I've batched this drink with Smirnoff Blue, Sobieski and Luksusowa. To get a better idea of the nature of each vodka I also sampled them neat and neat/freezer-chilled. Here are my thoughts about the Smirnoff On the nose this vodka delivered ethanol and not much else. There was a dominant alcohol note and maybe a very slight hint of black pepper and of lemon rind but those required some teasing to get to and disappeared in the freezer-chilled sample. On the tongue this vodka was a bit hot with notes of black pepper and slight citrus. I noted a rich mouthfeel and overall thought it was quite neutral compared to the other vodkas we tested in this side-by-side comparison. My wife chose the Smirnoff as her favorite of the three with the Luksusowa in second place when tasted neat. I chose the opposite and had the Luksusowa as my first choice and this was my second place. When it comes to the Cajun Martini there's a monkey wrench in the gears as we both liked the Sobieski best! More about that in the upcoming review of that expression. I recommend this vodka as a solid, somewhat boring and generally average sample of the liquor style. I'm particularly interested in using this for infusions as its higher ABV may be helpful in wringing out every bit of flavor in my experiments plus I think it might stand up a bit better in complex concoctions. At the end of the day none of this is leading to a love affair with vodka, but the sweet freshness and slight capsaicin heat of the Cajun Martini will keep me entertained poolside for the foreseeable future.