Supermarket Vodka Trials

[Anavrin]

I've had a few months over the summer where I've not been able to make any booze aka (lawn mower fuel) lol

So I decided to compare a few supermarket vodka brands, I assumed that the market leaders such as Smirnoff would be at least a 7 out of 10 however my taste tests soon proved otherwise!!!

Especially when compared to my own neutral, fermented in a bucket, boiled in a keg and cuts made in my kitchen.

These are the vodkas I've tested so far,

Smirnoff Vodka - Available Everywhere
Grey Goose Vodka - Availabl most places
Russian Standard Vodka - Available Everywhere
Morrisons Imperial Vodka - Available at Morrisons
ALDI Tamova Vodka - Available at ALDI
New Amaterdam - Available Most Places

I decided to take Smirnoff, being the market leader as the standard and out of 10 I've decided to make it middle of the range at 5/10, here's how I rate the others...

Grey Goose 9/10
New Amsterdam 8/10
Russian Standard 6/10
Smirnoff 5/10
Morrisons Imperial Vodka 4/10
ALDI Tamova 3.5//10

Is worth noting that these taste tests are not done side by side but 1 litre bottles at a time and with all the effects of time/memory but the outstanding one I found was the New Amsterdan vodka, it was cheaper than Russian Standard by £1 and taisted like my own neutral spirit.

I could taste heads in all spirits while drinking it strait, not so much once mixed with coke if you've spent time learning to make cuts, you will soon lean for yourself what clean hearts taste like, I've used this as a base line for my taste tests, please add more brands to this thread and let us know how you rate them

[Easydrinker]

I cannot imagine spending the £60+ that you did to compare Vodka.
For 3 bottles of Malt whisky I might
Interested in any responses.

Robert.

[Anavrin]

I hear what your saying Robert, I know your a whisky man, and a very good one, I've tasted some of your wares when I met Icefever in the summer, I was at a loose end while I had some building works done at home, which meant my distilling garage was full of shit stopping me perusing my favourite hobby, so I decided that as I'm going to have to buy booze, Im going to experiment at the same time.

It was quite an interesting experiment, with an outcome I couldn't have predicted beforehand.

[Anavrin]

I cannot imagine spending the £60+ that you did to compare Vodka

It was actually quite a lot more £££

Grey Goose is £38 per 70cl
New Amsterdam is £17 per Lt
Russian Standard is £18 per Lt
Smirnoff is £17 per Lt
Morrisons Imperial is £14.90 per Lt
ALDI Tamova is £14.27 per Lt

Admittedly the Grey Goose was a "from me, to me" xmas present and it was very very nice but the winner so far, if I had to choose a bottle to buy would be the New Amsterdam hands down the best value (and quality) supermarket bottle I've tried so far.

And the best thing about this experiment is there's so much choice to carry on with, I can see this becoming a long list!!

[Icefever]

Well done A... a man after my own heart...I did likewise with those couple of rums t'other week.

I've tried GG..that was ok.
We have a Smirnoff in our travel bag at the moment, as this looks better when staying with family, I have refilled in the past but this is Smirnoff.

I did try the Bison Grass vodka last chrimbo...

Not tried any others....one of the best neat vodkas I've had of late... was your own that I tasted earlier this year. now that was something to write home about.

[inspector gadget]

I did buy a bottle of New Amsterdam when it was on offer at our local Morrison's for £12 when it was launched, Belvedere was another from Sainsburys at £30 but the one I thought the best was Sobieski from our local EU outlet at £16

Best offer I missed was Glens at £5 a bottle from Real Tobacco in Adinkerk, I got there a day late...

[Mash]

Anavrin. Though work. But sometimes you just got to do it. Well done

[Phantom]

Soon as I saw the mention of Grey Goose, I thought "hang on, I think that's one of the expensive ones"

At £38 a bottle, it's up there price-wise with Chase distillery voddy.

Maybe it's me being a tightwad, but I'm buggered if I'm paying more than about £15 for vodka (if I had to buy it - which I don't)

[Anavrin]

I've not tried Chase yet, maybe that'll be this years xmas present from me to me :-)

I should have made The grey goose 10/10 it's far superior to the others and in imagining Chase will be a 10 too.

I'm getting back on track now with my own Vodka, I've stripped 40lts and have another 40lts fermenting, I was going to do one more before the spirit run but the time it takes to do a spirit run being what it is I'm leaning towards smaller batches from now on, little and often.

[Easydrinker]

It is hard for me to stay on topic here.
A friend is away this weekend and picking Sloes.
They are coming home to pappa.
I haven't done a Sloe Gin in a while.

I am not just excited,I am bouncing up and down and bouncing my head off the ceiling.
...

Robert.

[inspector gadget]

Just seen this

http://allhallowseve.topratedviral.com/article/this-vodka-is-filtered-through-4-billion-years-old-meteorites-and-comes-in-an-alien-head-bottle/promote/1002273?utc_campaign=1002273


Must be to compete against Crystal Head using $8 miilion worth of diamonds to filter thiers

[Easydrinker]

Someone gave me a bottle of "stirling Gin" this year, 'cos it's where I live.
The same re-finer probably offer the same or similar to every town in Scotland.
Claiming "local" ingredients.
Drinkable, but not really better IMHO than any thing else.
Marketing at work again.

Robert.

[Easydrinker]

Someone gave me a bottle of "Stirling Gin" this year, 'cos it's where I live.
The same re-finer probably offer the same or similar to every town in Scotland.
Claiming "local" ingredients.
Drinkable, but not really better IMHO than any thing else.
Marketing at work again.

Robert.

[Anavrin]

I'll be passing through Stirling later, maybe stop
At the services anyway, I'm off to Aberdeen for the night cos somethings broke that only I can fix.

[Easydrinker]

Depending upon the time of your stop, don't expect me to meet you there, much as I would love to.
I don't need to drive too much in my current lifestyle, and so don't worry too much about the times that I imbibe, but do own an in your face breathalyzer to keep me street safe.

Robert.