Alternative to Grey Goose

[CaptainPeanut]

After some vodka advice from those who may be in the know.

It's my brother's 30th birthday at the weekend so been looking at present ideas. I know he likes his fashion vodkas (Grey Goose and Belvedere in particular) but I fancy getting him something new to try.

Have come across Ciroc but it's a bit on the pricey side so am wondering if there are any other brands worth a look? Have seen Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka in Tesco and seems to be quite popular but I understand it has a distinct flavour, has anyone tried it?

Cheers

[GCH]

Beluga gold line is superb but pricey, although regular beluga is also very good and much more sensibly priced.

Belvedere unfiltered is different to regular belvedere and not as common.


Finlandia & Stolichnaya are my everyday(not literally!). I also have a couple of bottles of belvedere (red) edition, which is is a good charitible cause and a ltd edition very nice looking bottle if he is into that sort of thing.

[Mr Beaumont]

I'd agree with the Beluga recommendation, very good vodka.
Ciroc is quite an interesting vodka as it is made from grapes, but I don't think it is quite as good as Belvedere.
Personally, I think Grey Goose is just a marketing success, there are many cheaper vodkas that taste better.

[Stu R]

The Bison grass one is pretty tasty. Russian standard platinum is good.

Ciroc is fairly cheap in Costco for the big bottles (1.5 litres IIRC).

Belvedere is as good as grey goose IMO, though the GG Cherry Noir is seriously moreish.

[Fullmeister]

CaptainPeanut said:

After some vodka advice from those who may be in the know.

It's my brother's 30th birthday at the weekend so been looking at present ideas. I know he likes his fashion vodkas (Grey Goose and Belvedere in particular) but I fancy getting him something new to try.

Have come across Ciroc but it's a bit on the pricey side so am wondering if there are any other brands worth a look? Have seen Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka in Tesco and seems to be quite popular but I understand it has a distinct flavour, has anyone tried it?

Cheers

Zubrowka must be drunk with apple juice ...... otherwise its an "aquired" taste

(lived 5 years in Poland)

[toon10]

As an everyday vodka, Wyborowa, Finlandia, Russian Standard and even Absolut are much more pleasant than say a Smirnoff. If it's an occasion, my favourate is Belvedere. I'd go for U'luvka. It's really smooth and can be drunk neat. Even the bottle looks special so it'll make a great gift for someone who is into vodka.

http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.blog...

[CaptainPeanut]

Excellent, thanks all. Lots to go on there.

[HOGEPH]

Apparently Costco's Kirkland vodka is very similar to Grey Goose.

I had my first taste of Grey Goose last night, will acquire a bottle of the Kirkland stuff and do a comparison.

[Stu R]

Certainly not the first to say Kirkland is the same as Grey Goose. I was sure it was Belvedere but common consensus seems to say GG. Maybe I'll pick another bottle up. For science.

[Sag1]

Ciroc is definitely worth a purchase - the flavoured versions are great too.

[prand]

Could buy him a bottle of Black Cow, made in Dorset from, oddly enough, milk. I've had it and it's as drinkable as vodka can be (sorry, i'm not really s spririts fan)!

[hoegaardenruls]

Here's a few suggestions, all from the UK:

Chase - any variety, although their Marmalade is superb - you can usually pick this up in Waitrose
Black Moth - truffle infused
Penderyn V - distilled at the Penderyn whisky distillery

Can't go far wrong with any of those IMHO..

Edited by hoegaardenruls on Thursday 28th November 12:16

[matrignano]

I like Chopin, potato-based Polish vodka.

If you want something UK-made, Chase won a few awards last year and is getting seriously hyped up.

[ls3steve]

as a bit of a vodka head myself.. This place is amazing, has such a great selection of Vodkas.. (their site doesnt show the full range of over 150 vodkas)

http://www.gerrys.uk.com/CatalogueAndCartOct07.asp...

[hoegaardenruls]

ls3steve said:

as a bit of a vodka head myself.. This place is amazing, has such a great selection of Vodkas.. (their site doesnt show the full range of over 150 vodkas)

http://www.gerrys.uk.com/CatalogueAndCartOct07.asp...

I can spend ages just stood outside the shop looking at whats in the window, awesome place

[George7]

Chase potato vodka is a good one. I bought a bottle a few months ago and it's lovely stuff. It actually won a spirits competition in San Francisco (iirc), beating out all the offerings from the countries famous for vodka (Russia, Poland etc). That's quite impressive IMO. Chopin (Polish) is also pretty good. My Polish friend brought me 2 bottles (Rye and Potato) when he came to visit, and although I'm not a huge fan of the rye one, the potato one is very nice. I've heard very good things about Beluga; you can get it in Waitrose for ~£30, so that could be worth a look.

[CaptainPeanut]

Thanks again all, some interesting suggestions to look at.

Shame I haven't got longer as wouldn't mind trying a few of these myself, for research purposes of course

[Mobile Chicane]

I'm of Estonian parentage and we know a thing or two about vodka. My father had a still and made his own. There is one simple rule about vodka, and that is the more times it is distilled, the smoother the result.

That's irrespective of the price. It could be made from nightingale's tongues and quadruple filtered through Miranda Kerr's diamond-encrusted knickers, but it's the number of times distilled that makes the difference.

I'll take 'Danoff' quadruple distilled Latvian vodka at £12 a bottle any day, over something in a fancy bottle which costs three times as much. 'Chase' is all marketing: the product itself is as rough as it comes.

I don't buy 'premium' vodkas since I don't think they're worth the money. However if you're determined to give it as a gift, the u'Luvka stuff in a wobbly bottle as mentioned above might be worth a shot. I noticed that at Majestic last time I went in - at some £40 odd.

[addz86]

I got a bottle of Russian standard gold for my birthday from my sister, haven't tried it yet but it looks the part.

[Wadeski]

I struggle to differntiate vodkas (column distilled to 190 proof then add water...what's left!?) but we just launched Reyka, our Icelandic vodka in the UK. Geothermal powered stills and filtered through lava rocks...

A teaspoon of noilly prat and an olive away from being a cracking drink