Can You Really Taste the Difference Between Vodkas? (Yes, and Here's Why)

Let's address the elephant in the room, or rather, the myth at the bar: "All vodka tastes the same."

This is usually said by someone who exclusively drinks vodka-Red Bull, thinks premium vodka is a marketing scam, and genuinely believes that the only difference between bottles is the price tag and how good the bottle looks on Instagram.

These people are wrong. Objectively, scientifically, demonstrably wrong.

Yes, vodka is supposed to be a "neutral" spirit. But neutral doesn't mean identical, just like all white paint is neutral but good luck finding two whites that actually match when you're redecorating your living room.

So here's the truth: Not only can you taste the difference between vodkas, but once you know what to look for, you'll wonder how you ever thought they were the same. And you'll start giving dirty looks to people who mix premium vodka with things that mask its flavour entirely.

The Science: Why Vodka Isn't Actually Tasteless

The common perception of vodka is that it's essentially flavourless alcohol, just ethanol and water with nothing else going on. This perception exists because vodka regulations define it as a "neutral spirit," meaning it should be distilled to such a high proof that most of the original flavours are removed.

But here's where it gets interesting: "most" is not "all."

Research has found that different vodka brands differ in their concentration of ethanol hydrates, specific molecular structures where water molecules cluster around ethanol molecules in particular patterns. This "structurability," as scientists call it, can actually affect how vodka tastes and feels on the palate.

In one study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers found that even though vodka is supposed to be neutral, brands have measurably different chemical structures. Beverages with low structurability are more likely to be perceived as "watery," whilst those with high structurability have more complex molecular formations that stimulate the palate differently.

Translation: Even at the molecular level, vodkas are different. Your taste buds aren't lying to you.

What Actually Affects Vodka Taste

Right, so if vodka can taste different, what's causing those differences? Several factors, actually:

1. Base Ingredient: This Is the Big One

Vodka can be made from basically anything that ferments, but most commonly it's made from:

Wheat Vodka

• Flavour: Clean, crisp, with subtle sweetness and hints of vanilla or citrus
• Texture: Smooth and silky
• Examples: Grey Goose, Ketel One, Absolut
• Best for: Versatile, works neat or in cocktails

Potato Vodka

• Flavour: Earthy, rich, with a fuller body and subtle sweetness
• Texture: Creamy, almost velvety, with a fuller mouthfeel
• Examples: Chopin, Luksusowa, Woody Creek
• Best for: Drinking neat or on the rocks, the texture is half the experience

Corn Vodka

• Flavour: Slightly sweet with hints of vanilla or butter
• Texture: Very smooth, creamy
• Examples: Tito's, Smirnoff (yes, Smirnoff is corn-based, not wheat)
• Best for: Cocktails where you want smoothness without competing flavours

Rye Vodka

• Flavour: Spicy, complex, with a peppery edge
• Texture: Crisp, lean, sometimes described as having more "bite"
• Examples: Belvedere, Żubrówka
• Best for: Sipping, the spiciness makes it interesting

Grape Vodka

• Flavour: Smooth, fruity, slightly floral
• Texture: Softer, more rounded
• Examples: Cîroc
• Best for: Light, elegant cocktails

Apple-Potato Blend Vodka (That's Us)

• Flavour: Naturally smooth with subtle fruit notes and creamy mouthfeel
• Texture: Clean and crisp with velvety character from the potato spirit
• Example: Dutch Barn (the only one we know doing this combination)
• Best for: Everything, versatile for cocktails, smooth enough for sipping

The base ingredient matters because even after extensive distillation, trace compounds remain. Potatoes contain different starches and proteins than grains or apples, which create different flavour compounds during fermentation. By blending apple and potato spirits, we get the best of both worlds, the smoothness and clean character of apple with the creamy, luxurious texture that potato brings.

It's the same reason bread made from wheat flour tastes different from bread made from potato flour, the source material leaves its mark.

2. Water Source and Quality

Vodka is roughly 60% water, so the water matters. A lot.

Some distillers use local spring water, some use filtered municipal water, some use water from specific regions that's naturally soft or hard. The mineral content, pH, and purity of the water all affect the final taste.

This is why you can't just recreate any vodka by mixing ethanol with tap water. Well, you can, but it'll taste grim, and you'll understand why water quality matters.

3. Distillation Process

The number of distillations and the type of still used affect purity and flavour. More distillations generally mean a cleaner, more neutral spirit, but you can over-distill and remove interesting flavour nuances.

Some vodkas are distilled three times, some five, some more. There's a law of diminishing returns, after a certain point, you're not making it better, you're just burning energy and being able to write "distilled 47 times" on your marketing materials.

4. Filtration

After distillation, many vodkas are filtered through various materials:

• Activated charcoal (most common)

• Silver (yes, really)

• Diamond dust (marketing, mostly)

• Quartz sand

• Birch charcoal

Different filtration methods remove different impurities and can subtly affect taste and mouthfeel. Or, in the case of filtering through diamonds, they mostly affect the price tag.

5. Additives (The Legal Kind)

Vodka regulations allow small amounts of additives like citric acid or glycerol to smooth the taste or adjust mouthfeel. These are legal, declared, and can make a noticeable difference to how the vodka tastes.

This doesn't make the vodka "fake", it's just another tool distillers can use to achieve their desired flavour profile.

The Blind Taste Test Evidence

Multiple blind taste tests have been conducted, with mixed but interesting results:

The Grey Goose Surprise One well-documented blind tasting had participants taste Grey Goose, Tito's, and Smirnoff. Grey Goose was voted the cheapest-tasting (harsh and citrusy), whilst Smirnoff was voted the most expensive (smooth and neutral). Tito's landed in the middle.

This doesn't mean Smirnoff is objectively better, it means that when you remove branding and expectations, people's perceptions change dramatically.

The 20/20 Investigation ABC's "20/20" programme conducted a blind vodka test and found that participants couldn't consistently identify expensive vodkas from cheap ones. But, and this is important, participants could identify differences between vodkas. They just couldn't match those differences to price.

The Grey Goose Landslide Another independent blind tasting with six vodkas found Grey Goose won "by a landslide," with the taster's usual choice (Svedka) coming in dead last. Same taster, different context, completely different result from the first test.

What does this tell us? That yes, vodkas taste different, but price isn't always the indicator of quality, and branding massively influences perception.

Why "Premium" Doesn't Always Mean "Better"

Here's the uncomfortable truth: some expensive vodka is genuinely better. Some expensive vodka is just clever marketing with a fancy bottle.

The premium vodka market exploded in the early 2000s, with brands charging £40-60 per bottle for vodka that, in blind tastings, often couldn't be distinguished from brands costing £13.

But that doesn't mean all premium vodka is a scam. It means you need to understand what you're paying for:

You might be paying for:

• Actually superior base ingredients and production methods

• Better distillation and filtration

• More careful quality control

• Genuine craftsmanship and expertise

Or you might be paying for:

• A bottle designed by a famous architect

• Celebrity endorsements

• Extensive marketing campaigns

• The privilege of ordering something that sounds expensive in front of your mates

The trick is knowing which is which.

The Dutch Barn Difference (Yes, We're Going There Again)

We make vodka from a unique combination of apple and potato spirit, something only we do, to our knowledge.

The apple spirit (made from 100% British apples) provides natural smoothness and subtle fruit character. The touch of redistilled potato spirit brings a creamy, velvety mouthfeel to the vodka.

This isn't just about being different for the sake of it. Apples and potatoes both bring specific qualities to vodka, and by combining them, we get the best of both worlds: the clean, smooth character of apple-based spirit with the luxurious texture that potato spirit provides.

Our production process uses both a modern column still and a traditional pot still with rectification columns, giving us precise control over the distillation. This combination allows us to create vodka that's pure and clean whilst retaining the subtle character from our unique base blend.

So yes, you can taste the difference between vodkas. And Dutch Barn tastes the way it does because of our unique apple-potato blend, our dual still system, and our commitment to using quality ingredients without cutting corners.

How to Actually Taste Vodka

Right, if you want to test this yourself and actually taste the differences between vodkas, here's how:

1. Serve at the right temperature - Room temperature or slightly chilled, not frozen. Freezing masks flavours, which is great if your vodka is rough but counterproductive if you're trying to taste it.
2. Use proper glassware - Not shot glasses. Use something like a wine glass or tumbler that lets you smell the vodka.
3. Look at it - Hold it up to the light. It should be crystal clear. Look for viscosity, more viscous vodkas often have more glycerol or are higher proof.
4. Smell it - Give it a swirl and take a sniff. Don't stick your nose right in, you'll just smell ethanol. Hover above the glass. Good vodka should smell clean, maybe with hints of grain, citrus, vanilla, or in our case, apples.
5. Taste it - Take a small sip and let it coat your mouth. What do you taste? Is it smooth or harsh? Sweet or neutral? Clean or complex? Does it burn or glide?
6. Note the finish - What's left after you swallow? Clean and short, or lingering and complex? Pleasant or paint-stripper-esque?
7. Do this with three or four vodkas side by side, and you'll never again believe they all taste the same.

The Mixer Debate: When Quality Actually Matters

Now, about mixing premium vodka with Red Bull, cranberry juice, or other strong-flavoured mixers...

Here's the truth: if you're mixing vodka with something that completely masks its flavour, the vodka quality matters less. Not because the vodka doesn't taste different (it does) but because you literally can't taste it through the mixer.

When vodka quality matters most:

• Martinis (it's basically just vodka and a whisper of vermouth)
• Vodka sodas (just vodka, soda, and maybe lime)
• Neat or on the rocks (you're tasting nothing but vodka)
• Subtle cocktails where vodka isn't masked

When you can get away with cheaper vodka:

• Screwdrivers (orange juice is strong)
• Bloody Marys (you're tasting tomato, spice, and worcestershire more than vodka)
• Any cocktail with multiple strong flavours

That said, even in strong mixers, rough vodka can still add harshness and a chemical aftertaste. So whilst you don't need to use your most expensive vodka in a vodka-Red Bull, maybe don't use something that tastes like industrial solvent either.

The People Who Say "Vodka Is Vodka"

Let's talk about these folks for a moment. They fall into a few categories:

1. The Mixers - They only ever drink vodka mixed with something strong-flavoured. For them, vodka genuinely might taste the same because they've never actually tasted the vodka.
2. The Frozen Vodka Brigade - They keep everything in the freezer, which numbs taste buds and masks differences. Again, they're technically correct that their vodkas taste the same, they've just eliminated their own ability to taste the difference.
3. The "I Don't Want to Be a Snob" Crowd - They've been told that caring about vodka differences is pretentious, so they've convinced themselves they can't taste them. They can. They're just suppressing it to seem relatable.
4. The Budget Justifiers - They drink cheap vodka and need to believe it's just as good as expensive vodka to feel okay about their choices. To be fair, sometimes cheap vodka is just as good. But not always.

The Bottom Line

Yes, you can taste the difference between vodkas. The science supports it, blind taste tests confirm it, and your own taste buds will verify it if you actually pay attention.

The differences come from:

• Base ingredients (wheat vs potato vs corn vs apple vs grape)
• Water quality and source
• Distillation methods and number of distillations
• Filtration techniques
• Any added smoothing agents

Price doesn't always correlate with quality, branding massively influences perception, and context matters. The vodka you prefer neat might not be the one you prefer in cocktails.

Dutch Barn vodka is made from apples, which gives it a naturally smooth, slightly sweet character that's versatile enough for cocktails but interesting enough for sipping. It's not the most expensive vodka on the market, but it's made properly, from quality ingredients, without cutting corners.

And if someone tries to tell you that all vodka tastes the same, smile politely and offer them a taste test. Then watch their face when they realise they've been wrong this whole time.

Just don't let them mix it with Red Bull. Some sins are unforgivable.

Cheers (and trust your taste buds),

The Dutch Barn Team

(Defending vodka's honour since always, judging your mixer choices since right now)