Tastes

Nose - soft grain, dry herbal notes, subtle vanilla, black pepper, mild ethanol burn. Taste - soft sweet grain, lemon and grapefruit zest, vanilla, powdered sugar, floral tea, black pepper, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with dry grain, sour citrus, and vanilla, and pepper flavors. I know people often say this is just rebranded Grey Goose. While there are some similarities, I don’t think they’re the same. I actually like this slightly more. The nose is neutral and unremarkable. There’s the soft grain from the wheat, a bit of herbs and spices, and just a hint of vanilla. On the palate, things get more interesting than with Grey Goose. The arrival brings nice citrus zest, more vanilla, and some tea vibes. Whereas the Grey Goose presented rather muddled, this fares better, although not quite at the level of Ketel One. Overall, this is solid vodka, but not exceptional. The big selling point here is the price, for those who are fortunate enough to live in an area where Costco sells liquor. It’s about on par with the rest of the pack, so Jim Beam Original reigns supreme, at least for today. Thanks to @ContemplativeFox for providing the sample and encouraging this vodka sipping madness.

Nose - sweet grain, grape skin, lemon lime soda, grapefruit zest, floral tea, black pepper, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - lemon lime soda, sweet grain, grape, mint, black pepper, ginger, powdered sugar, orange blossom, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with sugary grape, sweet grain, and citrus zest flavors. This has the most interesting nose of any vodka I’ve tried. It’s more like a toned down modern gin than a vodka, which is good thing in my book. It has a noticeable Sprite vibe mingled with some sweet graininess and minty, peppery notes in the background. The same qualities transfer to the palate, with a strong gin-like presence on the arrival. Grape is also apparent, reminding me a bit of the Remy V eau-de-vie I tasted a while ago, but much less full-bodied. Overall, this is some tasty vodka. It’s actually more akin to a mediocre gin. Based on my initial impression, I think this tops my current leader, Ketel One, in sippability. One caveat is that this really isn’t a neutral vodka. I wonder whether it would mix well in the standard vodka cocktails, as it will certainly impart some flavors of its own. All things considered, we have a new front runner in this series. For me, it’s on par with Jim Beam Original, and I can see myself reaching for this if I had to choose between the two.

Nose - soft grain, dry herbal notes, subtle lemon zest and black pepper, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - soft dry grain, sour citrus, almond flour, bitter herbal notes, chili and black pepper, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with bitter herbal, sour citrus, and dry grain flavors. There’s really nothing special on the nose to highlight. It has the ‘soft’ graininess that I seem to register when drinking wheat-based vodkas, but the accompanying herbal, citrus, and pepper notes are unremarkable. As with Ketel One, the palate arrival is fairly robust, like the distillers weren’t just shooting for something exceptionally smooth. While I respect the attempt, it’s not executed nearly as well. There’s more heat here, and the flavors present as muddled with generalized sour and bitter notes that overwhelm any delicate subtleties that may be hiding in the background. So it was difficult getting back into the vodka cadence after having a Van Winkle 10 intermission. I suppose there are worse vodkas to sip, but this isn’t good enough to justify notching it above the rest of the pack. It’s a solid 1.5, but not quite at the level of Ketel One. And yes, I’d rather drink Jim Beam Original than Grey Goose.

Nose - dry grain, bitter herbal notes, black pepper, dusty bland sweetness, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sweet grain, black pepper, unidentifiable citrus zest, bitter herbal notes, bland corn sweetness, paper, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with citrus, sweet grain, and bitter herbal notes. This is essentially a Tito’s knockoff sold by Total Wine. It shares many of the same qualities, and I would likely be hard pressed to tell them apart. The nose is extremely similar, albeit maybe a bit more herbal and alcoholic. The palate follows suit, but the strong paper note I find on Tito’s is thankfully softened. Without comparing them head-to-head, I’d say the Tower is a bit better, but it’s too close to call. I think they’ve succeeded in making a reasonable substitute for Tito’s, and at $3 less a bottle, I’d choose it if they were my only options. It probably goes without saying, but I’d much rather drink Jim Beam Original.

Nose - clean soft grain, subtle vanilla, mineral water, mild ethanol burn. Taste - salted vanilla, sweet soft grain, grapefruit zest, black pepper, mineral water, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short and oily with vanilla, citrus, and clean grain flavors. Well, we have a new front runner in this vodka tasting series. The nose is very clean and neutral, with just a hint of vanilla and some minerality. What I notice most is the softness of the grain character, most definitely due to the distillate quality imparted by the wheat. It’s certainly inoffensive, even bordering on pleasant. The palate is where I feel this shines more brightly than the other vodkas I’m sampled thus far. There’s an arrival! It hits with discernible vanilla and citric flavors, followed by that same soft graininess and a bit of what I perceive as a black pepper kick. It’s clean and neutral, but there’s actually some noticeable qualities on the palate worth mentioning. Overall this is quite good, inasmuch as vodka can be good. It’s easily better than the Tito’s, Skyy, and Smirnoff, and you’ll pay a few dollars more a bottle for it as well. Now for the all important question. Would I rather sip this than Jim Beam Original? No, but we’re getting close, really close actually. Close enough to notch this above the others on my rating scale.

Nose - dry grain, light vanilla, subtle herbal and pepper notes, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sweet grain, vanilla, grapefruit zest, dry ginger or black pepper, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast and clean with dry vanilla, sweet grain, and pepper flavors. Wow, this seems even more neutral than the Skyy I tasted yesterday. They’re generally very similar, but the Smirnoff gives off less fumes and seems to have even less character. It’s not bad per se, but rather just extremely bland. Hey it’s $20 for a handle, so at least the price is right. I like this more than Tito’s and a bit less than Skyy. And I’d still rather drink Jim Beam Original.

Nose - clean dry grain, mineral water, subtle vanilla, unidentifiable citrus notes, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sweet grain, lemon zest, vanilla, black pepper, dry herbal notes, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with sweet grain, vanilla, and dry spicy, herbal notes. There’s really not much on the nose, but it has more alcohol fumes than the Tito’s. It’s exceptionally neutral and possesses a mineral water quality, along with almost undetectable vanilla and citrus notes. The palate is a step up from the Tito’s, but not by much. There’s no off-putting papery note, but rather a nice, natural grainy vanilla sweetness balanced with some herbal spice and citric qualities. It finishes very quickly and cleanly, with the same notes found on the palate quickly fading away. Overall, I like this slightly more than Tito’s, but not enough to notch it higher on my rating scale. I’d still rather drink Jim Beam Original, which I’ve decided to use as a baseline to determine whether any of the vodkas I taste deserve a score higher than 1.5 from me. For those keeping score at home, Skyy is now in the lead, quickly trouncing Tito’s which has been my default vodka of choice for a very long time.

Nose - dry floral and herbal notes, popcorn kernel, bland sweetness, stale black pepper, mild ethanol burn. Taste - paper, sour herbal tea, stale ginger and black pepper, lemon and grapefruit zest, bland sweetness, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short and a bit oily with paper, dry herbal notes, and citrus zest flavors. Similar to my gin tasting series, I’m kicking this one off with my current choice of house vodka, Tito’s. Until now, I’ve put very little thought into which vodka to use for mixed drinks, but stock Tito’s because it’s the one my wife likes. Granted, she too hasn’t explored many other options, but somehow Tito’s has become our default. As an output to this series, I’d like to either reinforce that Tito’s is the correct choice for us or possibly stumble upon an amazing diamond in the rough that completely upends my very low opinion of the category at-large. Sarcasm fully intended there. So right away it’s a massive challenge to identify any solid notes on the nose and palate, so they’ll be exceedingly dubious from here on out. On the nose, it’s definitely dry and herbal, with some semblance of peppery spice and this bland sweetness I oftentimes find in cheap Canadian whiskies. In fact, I imagine it’s a bit like an unaged Black Velvet would smell. The palate is similar, however this very clear taste of paper appears during the arrival and into the development, like quickly jamming a secret note in your mouth before the teacher makes it over to your desk to confiscate it. Toward the end of the development and into the finish, something I interpret as citrus zest, ginger, and black pepper arise, but they’re all subdued and very faint, like mixing one part gin with five parts water. Overall, there’s not much to like here. But on the other hand, there’s really not much to hate. Other than some very subtle herbal, pepper, and citrus notes, it’s pretty neutral. There’s not much in the way of undue harshness on the nose or palate, and it goes down without much fuss. I’m struggling to put a rating on this. It’s definitely more enjoyable than some of the trash I’ve reviewed, but I’ve rated spirits like Jim Beam Original and Mellow Corn a 2.0, and I’d rather drink those than Tito’s. As I try more vodkas over the course of the month, I’ll revisit scores, but given that I actually don’t hate Tito’s and still rate it so low doesn’t bode well for the rest of them. Follow along with me on this journey of discovery. We’ll gaze into the abyss, and hope it doesn’t gaze back into us.