NYT did a vodka tasting a few years ago and found that the best, clearest, least-anything-tasting was Smirnoff. Beat Grey Goose hands down. Now I use Smirnoff for everything, including my homemade raspberry liqueur, and no one complains.
I just decant it into the GG bottle for snobby friends, no one knows the difference. 
Man, I really want one now. It’s been several months since I made Bloodies.
I think mixed drinks really work best when ingredients are combined as shortly before serving as possible, so I use straight tomato for a Bloody, not V8. If you really like the beet, celery or carrot notes, add those juices independently, or use the vegetables as garnish. You’ll have more control and more memorable results.
Here is one of my concoctions from last year, and here is a fun New York Times piece which might inspire some thinking on Marian principles and the possibilities of garnishes.
Bloody Mary made with gin instead of vodka is one of the best tasting drinks out there, IMHO.
Does anyone know if it has a name other than “Bloody Mary made with gin instead of vodka?”
True.
Except in the case of Vodka, you can replace “the good stuff” with “not the cheap stuff”. Once you get up to “decent” vodka*, the rest is 99.9% labels, advertising and a cool bottle.
*as MN_Maenad sez, Smirnoff
Well, I’ve had a Bloody Maria (tequila).
I say cheap stuff for the mixers, good stuff for the 'tinis. And by cheap stuff, I mean Smirnoff. I guess there could be some REALLY cheap stuff out there that tastes like MEK, but I wouldn’t take a chance on it.
Also, for the Bloody lovers out there, I’d recommend trying a Bloody Caesar. It’s made like a traditional Bloody Mary but with Clamato instead of tomato juice/V8. A Canadian friend of mine introduced them to me when I was in Vancouver one year, and I haven’t been able to have a traditional Bloody Mary since.
Yeah, Grey Goose is pretty terrible as vodkas go, particularly at its price point. All about the marketing.
You don’t want the vodka that causes blindness…
But I agree - with that intense of a mixer, you aren’t going to taste much in vodka gradiations. And I also agree, once you get past “gutrot” - 99.9% of vodka ‘quality’ is marketing.
Now, we tend to only have one bottle of any given type of booze on the shelf. Depending on what WE usually use it for (and how much we like the people who drink it where we don’t drink it) it can be Woodford Reserve or Phillips Triple Sec. So I’d use what is handy.
Bloody Margaret!
Bloody Ginger?
Also the Bloody Ceaser, with clamato juice.
super yum.
It’s unlikely you can tell the difference in a blind taste test between Smirnoff and stuff that cost 2-3X as much.
Bloody Caesars are high on the list of sins Canada must pay for come Judgement Day.
A lot of information and my ignorance has been fought. I have been exposed to too many alcoholics for whom vodka was the choice of beverage, and the cheapest in order to make it last, and that has certainly colored my opinion. Snob factor removed, there will be Bloody Marys tonight, along with a seafood supper. I will be making the beverage with either Smirnoff or Skyy vodka and fresh ingredients, and am looking forward to the experience. Thank you all for your opinions and advice!
This cracked me up!
Better quality vodka involves better distilling and filtering. As far as flavor is concerned, a Bloody Mary could tolerate less than top shelf. If you end up tasting the drink twice (the second time on the way up), you could attribute that to the quality of the vodka, as well as other effects that don’t arrive until the next morning.
Vodka is such a scam.
I agree, but could we call it something other than “BM mix”?
mmm