I got a bottle of Kirkland vodka from one of my buyer’s for my b-day and a couple of people that saw it said it’s just like Grey Goose, but for half the price. It’s 5x distilled but will that be enough for it to compete?
I stuck it in the freezer and will compare it to some Belvedere this weekend.
I thought that Grey Goose was supposedly a pretty mediocre vodka (as far as “professional” liquor & spirits critics are concerned) dressed up as a super-premium product by a very successful marketing campaign…
Even so, it’s half the price and if it’s as good as GG then I’ll be sold. 
Moving to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I need to find the cite, but I remember a true double-blind vodka taste test that destroyed the whole premium scam. The winner was a plastic jug brand. And this was tasting ice cold shots.
The only “super-premium” thing about Grey Goose, and all other such “high end” vodkas is the pretty bottle it comes in.
Before anyone starts, yes, there is a difference between a decent brand and the shit that comes in a plastic jug, sometimes massive, usually subtle, but the main difference between Svedka, Stoli, and Chopin is about $20. With few exceptions, the vast majority of vodka snobs who insist they can tell the difference between $10 Smirnoff and $60 Jean Marc XO are both fooling themselves and wasting their money.
It is. But, then almost all vodkas are fairly mediocre. The whole point of vodka is to be as flavorless and unassuming as possible. Vodka as a drink is essentially driven entirely by marketing (to an even greater extent than the wider alcoholic beverages market).
Grey Goose is a premium vodka because it’s a premium brand. It entered the market costing twice as much as the most expensive and successful vodka (Absolut, which spent a fortune on a brilliant and successful advertising campaign to get where it was). Its most impressive advancements in the art of vodka were bottle design (heavier, frosted glass) and an aspirational price.
Here’s a great article about the history of vodka in America.
Slight hijack, but is there anything to the idea of buying low-end vodka and filtering it using a Brita water pitcher? Would doing so improve the taste much? (I’m not much of a drinker, so it’s not an experiment that I’m qualified to try.)
The very first thread I ever started here on the SDMB was about various vodkas, and the Britta technique was discussed in some detail, as well as the actual differences between high-end and rotgut labels.
I think it was a 3 page thread, a virtual cornucopia of vodka information for all of the degenerate juicers and sophisticated connoisseurs here on the Dope…
Kirkland? As in Costco Kirkland? (Googles. Wow, it is from Costco!)
And here I thought that Trader Joe’s blended Scotch was weird.
Years ago, a friend and I bought a bottle of “Osco Drug” branded brandy.
It was… not a good experience.
The Costcos near me have an entire aisle devoted to wines, beers and spirits. I’m a big fan of their Kirkland brand products.
I was shocked when I saw it in a liquor store a few months ago because I heard about how it was a really expensive brand and all that. But it’s really not eyebrow-raisingly expensive. Unless you buy it in a club and they tack a three hundred dollar bottle service fee onto the price.
Here’s an Interesting New York Magazine article that discusses the origin of Grey Goose. Conclusion: it’s a pretty good vodka that was made popular by setting an outrageous price for it and marketing it as super-premium.
I’ve never really gotten the whole premium vodka thing. Bad vodka has off-putting flavors. Good vodka is flavorless. Premium vodka is what, even more flavorless? Maybe my palate is just not refined enough, but their distinguishing feature seems to be the pretty bottles.
Seriously (and I mean it. I’m not snarking), somebody explain vodka connoisseurship to me. What are you trying to taste in a good vodka? It’s always been my understanding that vodka is supposed to be pretty much pure ethanol at a certain percentage in tasteless water.
So, are you trying to detect…the absence of any flavors? Is that what makes it good?
I’ve been impressed with them as well. A co-worker last week was talking about the Kirkland batteries, said they were just as good as Duracell’s. I have some cargo shorts that are Kirkland and they’re nice and thick, good stitches, and for $15.00 I was all about 2 or 3 pairs. 
Back to vodka, I usually drink it mixed with fruit juice like strawberry/banana/pineapple/orange in various combination’s so I drink a lot of that red labeled Smirnoff brand. It’s only triple distilled but it goes well mixed.
Anyone ever infused vodka? I guess you can flavor vodka by soaking it in different things. Some weird combos like bacon and grapes or some stupid things that claimed to turn out good. (I haven’t tried it)
Don’t be too quick to dismiss Kikkerland-branded stuff. Everything I’ve purchased with that label has been high-quality. The vodka is good, but lesser-priced stuff is just as good.
You lucky stiffs. Here in the Great State of Washington Smirnoff is $18.95 for a 750 ml bottle. Don’t even dare to think what Jean Marc would be.
It is possible to go too low with vodka. Someone gave my mother a drink secretly made from Popov vodka, convinced that she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. My mother’s taste buds might not have, but her body did – she upchucked after the first swallow.
But Smirnoff won in a NYTimes vodka taste-off.