Fightin' Words on Vodka
Vodka is the top-selling spirit in the United States, but this liquor-market leader has taken a couple of very public punches in the last few days.
In Advertising Age, Bob Garfield takes Grey Goose to task in a column with the two-fisted headline "Obnoxious Ads for Overpriced Vodka." The body copy is hardly more nuanced in taking on parent company Bacardi's ads, which seek to equate the consumption of Grey Goose with enjoying a very exclusive, high-class lifestyle:
Bacardi wishes to sell preposterously expensive ultra-mega-super-premium vodka to showoffs, wannabes and snobs. […] It's the hoariest gambit in the world: to flatter customers into imagining they are not conspicuous consumers but discriminating ones. That when they belly up to the bar calling for Grey Goose, they can tell the difference between it and Stoli and Absolut and the rail vodka, because they have rarified tastes that the mere hoi polloi could never understand. That they are, sniff, a cut above.
Garfield's slap at Grey Goose follows close on the heels of Eric Felten's most recent weekend column in the Wall Street Journal, titled "Make Mine a 020001"—referencing the Archer-Daniels-Midland product code for their high-proof ethyl alcohol, which is shipped to bottlers in bulk, diluted, and then sold as vodka under brands ranging from plastic bottle to top shelf. Felten methodically dissects the vodka market, revealing how low-cost grain alcohol can suddenly become an ultra-premium brand of vodka, based entirely on a marketing campaign.
But while Garfield took aim from the sidelines, Felten challenges vodka executives in person:
I went to a vodka tasting hosted by the head of a prominent luxury liquor house. It was an exercise meant to dispel the notion that the differences among vodkas are illusory. But after being walked through the vodkas on the table with elaborate descriptions of the characteristics of each, I found myself hard-pressed to discern much difference. So I asked the executive to demonstrate the differences by tasting the vodkas blind. He couldn't even identify his own flagship brand.
The vodka executive shouldn't feel too bad. In a 2005 blind tasting now legendary among spirits fans, a panel assembled by the New York Times sampled 21 vodkas (mostly super-premium brands) and chose as their top pick ... Smirnoff.
So if you're a vodka drinker, what do you think? Does your favorite vodka really taste different from others you've tried, or do you like your brand because of the bottle or the sense of style it gives you? Could you pick your brand out of a blind-tasting lineup? And is a bottle of it really worth $30? Let's hear it.
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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19 Comments:
If I learned anything from reading every single james bond novel as a child it's that vodka is odorless and flavorless and, unless it has been corrupted with a foreign substance, it is all the same.
Many people chose to infuse their vodka with various exotic materials to give it a particular flavor ... in my youth we used to call those screwdrivers.
Some people order very dry vodka martinis. What the heck is the point of that? You are basically ordering a glass of an odorless and flavorless alcoholic beverage, that's not a drink it's a shot of vodka.
redfish at 5:16PM on 09/05/07
I enjoy vodka and usually drink Absolut but Smirnoff was my spirit of choice in college. I really have never been able to discern much from any of the various vodka's I have tried over the years, other then higher prices!!
Sarahrm at 5:21PM on 09/05/07
Wasn't Smirnoff the best tasting vodka in a blind New York Times Dining tasting? I actually prefer it. I think people buy vodkas for the packaging as well as the price.
gwenpentland at 5:25PM on 09/05/07
Popular subject these days: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/is-vodka-different/
If Trust = Reliability + Delight, then the makers of Grey Goose have me pegged as a customer (sucker?).
I like the bottle, I like the taste and I like how it's easier to order than Chopin and Belvedere after I've had a couple.
Like any product, vodka has its ups and downs and it's up to the savvy marketers, like Sydney Frank, to make up feel better about differentiation.
jayfallon at 5:40PM on 09/05/07
I find that some vodkas make my throat close up while others don't. that said, I don't find a flavor distinction among most of the ones I've tried.
johnbeaty at 6:24PM on 09/05/07
To be honest, I can't really taste the difference. What I do however is take the cheapest vodka and run it through a brita filter. Then put it in a frozen metal bowl and add a few ice chips and put that in the freezer. The water gets pulled out of the vodka and you are left with the alcohol - which is used in the basis of a lot of drinks. Cheaper than everclear for a cordial base.
I will pass along one story - According to my wife's Russian friends, vodka is not drunk for taste, it is drunk to get drunk. About fifteen years ago before they became popular in my area, I picked up a vodka set (small glasses in a base that holds ice). A Russian executive who was over negotiating a contract with my employer found out through the local community that we were having a party and pointedly asked me about it. I invited him along (decent guy, just out of place) and as soon as he saw me take the set out of the freezer he said "I knew someone in this misbegotten area was civilized" and shot gunned the eight glasses. What astounded me was that they seemed to have no effect!
exvaxman at 7:23PM on 09/05/07
I will say this - I am rarely affected by advertising. I like what I like - no Pepsi ad is going to make me drink it over Coke.
The Grey Goose ads are by far the must repulsive ads I have ever seen in my life. It's shocking how pretentious they are and how they can appeal to anyone.
I was never a huge Grey Goose fan, but I now go out of my way NOT to order Grey Goose because of those ads.
As for the taste of vodkas, some are absolutely, 100% smoother than others. Of course the cheap stuff is bad, but compare something like Stoli Gold or Ultimat (not to mention some potato vodkas) to Absolut, and you will definitely taste the difference - maybe not in a mixed drink, but straight, absolutely.
jonvertron at 7:24PM on 09/05/07
I definitely taste a difference when it comes to the flavored vodkas, and I know the minute I take a sip that the bartender goofed and poured Absolut Mandarin instead of Stoli Oranj in my orange and tonic! Same with the pear-flavored; I can't stand the Absolut, but GG Pear on the rocks is my recent favorite drink. When I can find it, that is... So I guess I'm another one of those suckers, but in my case, it has zero to do with advertising. If it was Smirnoff that I liked, I wouldn't care--it comes down to how it tastes!
Curlz at 8:43PM on 09/05/07
I am positive of this: Hanger One Kaffir Lime is my favorite bottled spirit. It tastes natural, clean and delicious. Like a gimlet straight from the bottle.
Otherwise, Kettel One is the most I will spend and I am 100% in support of Smirnoff. I also enjoy Stoli everytime. I am under the impression that under Soviet rule it was the 'Russian Standard.' It is clean, affordable, and totally quaffable when chilled/up, on the rocks, or mixed.
coolname at 12:41AM on 09/06/07
There is absolutely a difference in Vodkas! But I think the best vodka depends upon what you are going to put in it. Stoli is great for dirty martinis, Ketel One (probably my favorite) is great for fruitier drinks. Well vodka is terrible, and smells like rubbing alcohol, but I think I'll try that Brita Filter, that might do the trick!
bleuberry at 9:59AM on 09/06/07
Vodka was my poison of choice, one which I can no longer indulge in, but I will say I could certainly tell the difference between Russian and domestic.
There was also a pronounced difference between Polish potato and rye produced.
While I was in Russia it went down like water. Stick a bottle in a snowdrift and you'd better watch yourself.
Smirnoff=low on cash
Stoli, Luksusowa,Wyborowa=real deal
GG, Belvedere and other fancy bottle type=marketing
Absolute=rubbing alcohol
Finlandia=acceptable
Stiv61 at 10:08AM on 09/06/07
The fact that Smirnoff won a taste test blows my mind. I don't know if we get a slightly different variation in Canada, but it tastes like hairspray. A shot in a slurpee makes the slurpee taste like hairspray. It's vile.
Otherwise, I don't notice much difference in the way of flavour. Skyy is nice, but our current choice is Black Stallion, which may not be avaliable outside of Alberta, but it's sipping quality, fairly cheap, and made and bottled in Russia. Can't really beat that.
Peasantwench at 10:46AM on 09/06/07
During one season of mythbusters they put the "vodka through a charcoal filter" myth to the test. It turned out that the filter really did improve the taste and quality of the vodka. They also had a professional vodka taster on the show who was very accurate at picking the vodka's at various filtering levels.
logicalmind at 11:31AM on 09/06/07
Mrs Godstar has been going to Poland a lot on business recently, and is kind enough to bring me plenty of vodka (keeps me subdued enough to not complain about her TV obsessions). There is a real difference to be found - a couple of brands are smooth enough to sip at room temperature, while others are as grim as the main international brands. As yet, I haven't discovered a Ukrainian horilka that is palatable, and the occasional Bulgarian rakia that is pleasant tends to be kerosene next time I buy it - consistency is not a Bulgarian strongpoint. If I may suggest, have something with a little flavour - Balkan plum firewaters can be such fun, my personal favourite so far being Zuta Osa (the yellow wasp) from Serbia. Happy drinking.
godstar at 2:21PM on 09/06/07
I think it is pretty amusing that someone who writes for an advertising trade publication would be up in arms over this.
There are many, many products where is little discernible difference in quality.
People who are buying Grey Goose are not buying vodka, they are buying status and image. And that is exactly what that ad is selling.
This is nothing new or remarkable.
SAMiller at 4:17PM on 09/06/07
I've been a Vodka woman for years; 99% of the time it's Smirnoff for me. I'll take Stoli if the bar doesn't carry Smirnoff. That said, I think Luksusowa is fantastic Unfortunately, it's hard to find in my town. that's probobly a good thing. It keeps me from drinking far too much.
NO_Pam at 10:25PM on 09/06/07
This article doesn't prove a point, but it does add support to the argument:
The more expensive the item in question, the more marketing it requires. In the case of Vodka, where there is a less than huge difference between the good and the bad, it takes a lot of marketing to promote a brand as superior to another brand. And I find that the more marketing there is for that brand, the less there is in the brand that I might be actually interested in. If Grey Goose were a better product all around, would they have to spend so much to market it and would they have to target such a small perceived group?
My two cents worth.....
Chipandy at 7:32AM on 09/07/07
The only vodka I DON'T like is Stolichnaya. If I had unlimited funds, there would be a half-gallon of Ketel One in my freezer. Right now there's a bottle of Georgi.
Tom Steele at 3:53PM on 09/07/07
In case of vodka, I always find price doesn't always agree with the taste. I find Stoli taste more of a rubbing alcohol than Sky! I usually dilute the vodka though, vodka redbull, or any fruity sparkly water. However if we're talking about Absolut Peach, I'd take them in any form.
winny at 6:16AM on 09/08/07