You probably can only find it at Spec’s, but Shustoff is one of the tastiest vodkas I’ve ever had. Extremely clean, so not for the Ketel One fans, but phenomenally smooth and a really tasty drink. At $30/750 mL, (or 2.5x the Svedka price) it had better be. I prefer it to Tito’s but YMMV.
This is what I came to say. It’s a reasonably priced, very good vodka product…and made in Austin Texas, of all places.
I was popping in here to recommend Luksusowa. Wyborowa, as I recall, was also good–both, when I was in college, came in plain bottles, which made them cheap. Fancy bottles make a vodka expensive.
See above re: fancy bottles. Also, it’s sorta vaguely indirectly supporting woo. (Or at least, the idea for it was based on woo.)
You’re welcome at Chez Knead any time, Ants.
Anytime there is a discussion of cheap versus premium vodka I have to post this story from ABC News. It’s a not scientific, yet somewhat illuminating blind taste test of some professed vodka snobs. One of the conclusions, Smirnoff is just as good as anything else for mixing.
I like Stolichnaya. Not because I can really taste any appreciable difference between it and other same-tier vodkas, but I once worked with a Russian guy who gave me a bottle for Xmas, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
What is “Everclear” (190 proof alcohol) like if diluted to standard vodka proof (40-50% alcohol)?
Vodka. The only flavors will be alcohol and the minerals in the water you use to dilute it.
I just checked the liquor cabinet. Here we have Ketel One for when the wife wants a martini, Skyy for Bloody Marys, Absolut Citron and Peach for other cocktail creations, and a bottle of Stoli Honey that a distributor gave me 20 years ago.
Huh, weird. My numbers based on BevMo California, member discount, all 1.75 mL, unflavored:
Ketel One: $31.98
Grey Goose: $49.98
Belvedere: $54.99 - no discount currently on this one though
Chopin: $49.99
Local artisanal vodka
Hangar One $27.99 for 750 mL ($2 more than the same quantity of Belvedere, or $3 with no discounts)
Also, I think most people think vodka is made from potatoes in Russia. The last two are Polish, and Chopin is the only one made for potatoes. Vodka’s normally been made from grain for a long time, and your bottle of Smirnoff is probably not made in Russia anymore.
Made by Dan Ackroyd! I just want the bottle. Very pricy.
Crystal Head 1.75mL - $89.99, discounted from $99.99 (!)
so there really is a difference taste wise because its a russian vodka? some of the flavors they have sounded pretty good
This is the vodka I was talking about!!! Yes! It’s very very good, and not expensive. I highly recommend it. 
Non-expensive: Ketel One. It’s a very good neutral spirit, anything cheaper is liable to taste nasty.
I must admit that I mix Belvedere rather than drink it straight. It’s more expensive than Ketel One but it has a little bit of taste which is sometimes a good thing. The taste comes out even better when making infusions. That way you know you are drinking blueberry vodka rather than blueberry flavored alcohol.
I can’t tell a difference because it’s Russian, but it is good vodka, and it’s usually a good price. The flavors are very good, in my opinion. They are a lot of fun. Much better than Burnetts which also has a ton of interesting flavors, but isn’t as good as Stoli. But Burnetts is ok, I’ve used it at parties and no one complained.
Also there’s a brand called Three Olives which makes a number of flavored vodkas I’ve had at parties. I’ve never bought it personally so I don’t know the price, but I’ve drunk it and it tastes fine. They have some that tastes like birthday cake, which is sort of horrific to me, but I was essentially forced into trying it and I will say it tastes pretty much exactly like birthday cake. Which I hate, so I thought the vodka was pretty disgusting, but if you like that sort of thing it was pretty neat I guess.
eta: looks like Three Olives specializes in the sweeter flavors, so if that isn’t what you’re looking for I guess avoid that brand. I’ve tried a few of them in shots though, and I can say they do a good job of approximating the tastes.
If you like Stolichnaya I’ve heard that Moskovskaya is pretty much the same thing but cheaper. The bottle looks really similar. Someone told me once that it’s what the Russian guys they knew drink.
Really interesting article about vodka in communist Russia here.
Back in the day there were essentially only two brands: Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya, the latter being the cheaper brand. They came in half-liter bottles that could not be recapped.
I used to keep an empty bottle of Stoli, filled with water, in the liquor cabinet. On several occasions I’d bring up the idea of chugging a fifth. People would go back and forth on whether it was do-able. A the right time I’d mention that I thought I had a new fifth. I’d look around, pull out the bottle of water, open it and start chugging. Good times as people would freak out.
These days, I could barely chug a fifth of water.
By 1994 or so, you could recap them- a buddy did a study-abroad at Moscow State and brought back a bottle of each.
Stolichnaya tasted like it does here, and Moskovskaya tasted a little tiny bit like baking soda.
I’m kind of amazed though; why do people buy flavored vodkas? I mean, what’s the big attraction to lemon or peach flavored vodka vs. muddling up a slice of lemon or peach in your vodka? One tastes like artificial flavors and the other like real fruit.
(or better yet, try muddling some peaches, mint and bourbon with a little sugar!)
Another vote for Tito’s. Nice clean taste.
I’ve had it, and got to keep the bottle. It’s smooth, and mild. Makes a goooood martini, but I like it best on the rocks with a twist of lemon.
I also have a bottle of Kah Tequila Blanco. They have some cool, Dia de Muertos inspired skulls bottles. There’s a different bottle (beware: site auto-plays sound) for all four of their tequilas (blanco to extra anejo).