Vodka sensitivity? best vodkas?

[paolow]

A strange one this, future Mrs Paolow limits the extent of her drinking to vodka and mixers and vodka based cocktails but she seems to be extremely sensitive to which kind of vodka it is. On Smirnoff she is usually ok provided she takes it easy but I mistakenly gave her some cheap crap the other day and a double shot kept her up half the night with being ill.
I can only assume that all vodkas are not created equal but it got me thinking: is there a vodka that is 'purer' than others? something that she might be able to drink in half decent quantities without adverse affects? I am perfectly happy with the cheapest of the cheap but I am happy to push the boat out a little for her. After some googling the suggestion is finlandia or absolut might be better - unless anyone knows different? Is there something Ive missed? Am i blaming the vodka unfairly?

[Red Firecracker]

There's this;



or this this;



Which are my staples.

Then there's this;



Balkan 176

which is marvelous.

There is nothing worse than cheap vodka. Also can't stand Smirnoff or Absolut.

[Mobile Chicane]

Red Firecracker said:

Then there's this;



Balkan 176

which is marvelous.

88% ABV

Marvellous for what exactly?

[AB]

I love Bison Grass - so smooth you can drink it straight and goes wonderfully with some Apple Juice.

[Plotloss]

Drinking: Grey Goose or Ketel One

Cooking: Absolut

[Red Firecracker]

Mobile Chicane said:

88% ABV

Marvellous for what exactly?

Drinking, neat.

It's one of the smoothest most drinkable vodka's I've ever bought.

[sleep envy]

belvedere

[JonRB]

We had a "best vodka" thread very recently, so it may be worth checking back on that.

My favourite is currently Finlandia, which is a Finnish vodka. Waitrose stock it for pretty much the same price as Absolut (ie. round about the £15 mark) but it is significantly more drinkable.

Mobile Chicane will back me up on this.

[Weaver]

I like Finlandia but I am a big fan of Belvedere, very very smooth.

[paolow]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I really like Zubrowka - really nice - but I dont know how the Mrs would like the flavour. Funnily enough Grey Goose and Belvedere I had considered but was concerned about availability. I have checked Waitrose and happily enough Belvedere is there. I might also try 43 below too which I seem to remember is ok. I did remember there being a vodka thread recently but couldnt find it
Ill test her out on the Belvedere - weve got next week off - and let you all know how drunk I got her

[paolow]

Well, I went to Threshers (waitrose was shut) and saw what they had. I was surprised they had grey goose and i asked for a bottle. When i saw it was £32.99 i asked them to put it back and plumped for a bottle of Finlandia.
Had a fairly strong (40% / 60%) vodka and tonic and it was very surprising. The sharp taste usually present even in lesser percentages was totally absent and it does indeed go down exceedingly well! Its as far ahead of Smirnoff as Smirnoff is ahead of the crappy 'Grants' that my corner shop sells.
Its £15 a bottle and comes in a fancy box. Grants is £8 and comes in a plastic bag. Is the Finlandia twice as good as the cheap stuff? Actually I do think it is! Cant wait to try it with a bloody mary and some other cocktails. Really a remarkable change in flavour and it is so smooth it will be fun seeing it creep up on the mrs when she tries it
Cant believe ive been living under the idea that all vodkas are created equal!

[JonRB]

Finlandia FTW! Another convert.

[Rob_R]

Smirnoff is the cheap crap. Not in its pricing but how it is made. It's not even Russian.

Russian Standard is probably the best in this price category. ~ £15 a bottle. Although Finlandia is perfectly respectable.

[Mobile Chicane]

Rob_R said:

Smirnoff is the cheap crap. Not in its pricing but how it is made. It's not even Russian.

Russian Standard is probably the best in this price category. ~ £15 a bottle. Although Finlandia is perfectly respectable.

Agreed. However, Russian Standard 'Platinum' (Not the easiest to obtain outside of - ahem - Russia) is quite something.

[paulmurr]

Van Gogh vodka is the nicest I've tried. Belevedere and Grey Goose are aceptable but I couldn't drink Finlandia or Absolut neat.

[JonRB]

paulmurr said:

I couldn't drink Finlandia or Absolut neat.

I'll happily drink Finlandia neat but not Absolut.

For reference, I come from a malt whisky drinking background but find I enjoy it less these days and seem to prefer vodka more at the moment.

[Rob_R]

Mobile Chicane said:

Rob_R said:

Smirnoff is the cheap crap. Not in its pricing but how it is made. It's not even Russian.

Russian Standard is probably the best in this price category. ~ £15 a bottle. Although Finlandia is perfectly respectable.

Agreed. However, Russian Standard 'Platinum' (Not the easiest to obtain outside of - ahem - Russia) is quite something.

See if you can find Russian Standard Imperia. Probably the purest vodka in the known galaxy. It's 9 X distilled.

[Wadeski]

Rodnik Governatorskya

not available outside of Russia and the Ukraine

[paulmurr]

Jon, I also enjoy a good malt. However, the heavily peated island malts just don't do it for me. I prefer a sweeter, mellower Speyside like Cardhu. Peaty malts just taste of antiseptic.

Having said what I said about Finlandia, I did manage to put away a bottle of the cranberry stuff on Christmas day

[JonRB]

paulmurr said:

Having said what I said about Finlandia, I did manage to put away a bottle of the cranberry stuff on Christmas day

Are you sure you don't mean Absolut? It's Absolut comes in all sorts of flavours.