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.