A 1 liter bottle of Tito’s will set you back 22.98 at Ace Spirits in Chicago. Smirnoff 100 proof is only .99 cheaper.
I don’t think I have ever seen Tito’s for less than $26
I’m sure you’re all waiting with anticipation, but I tried CH Vodka, proudly advertised as Made in Chicago. Because Chicago is know for vodka? Anyway, it is fine for a mixing vodka, and I doubt I could tell the difference between CH, Tito’s, and Deep Eddy. Perfectly fine for a cape cod or a bloody mary, but I don’t think I’d want it for a martini. Still, $20 seems to be the floor for a decent enough vodka in the Chicago area, particularly if you like to get your liquor delivered.
I design craft distilleries for a living and have looked at several of the distilleries mentioned in this thread to help with their expansions.
The main reason for the vodka boom is that vodka is 99% marketing and it is quick to cash flow. Aside from the GNS bottler and redistillers vodka is still crazy cheap to make. A molasses based vodka will take about a drum of molasses to make about 24 9-liter cases of vodka or 294 bottles. So ingredients will run you about $200 and labor ~$450 plus taxes ~$800 and ~$1,000 in packaging plus some overhead and other things will get you $10/bottle and even cheap craft swill can wholesale for $15/bottle. Now if you get a decent marketing push or win an award then you’re wholesaling at $20/bottle and doubling your money. Of course, the smart people are using NGS which you can buy for $5/gallon and dilute and re-bottle and your cost per bottle drops to ~$60 in labor, with the same $1,800 in taxes and labor and your cost is $7 per bottle and you can double up even at the low end of the market.