Tasting

Anyone who tastes Grey Goose and Cîroc side by side can pick out two different starting materials, even though both are sold as neutral vodkas. Grey Goose is distilled from soft winter wheat. The brand itself describes it as round and lightly sweet, with a hint of almond and mild spice. Cîroc, distilled from grapes, tends to come across as fruitier. A trace of the fruit it came from lingers on the first sip.

Compared to a classic Polish rye vodka, one thing stands out above all: the slightly sharp, bready note typical of rye is missing entirely. Tasting both blind side by side, wheat reveals itself through roundness, while grapes give themselves away with a fine, almost floral finish. Anyone familiar with both vodkas can often identify the raw material just from the aroma.

For a quiet tasting, a small glass at a cool but not ice-cold temperature is enough. Chill the vodka down too far, and the cold numbs the tongue, erasing the subtle differences between a grain and a grape distillate. First, take a brief sniff at the rim of the glass, then let a small sip spread across the mouth before swallowing. That reveals far more than a quick shot straight from the freezer.

Both vodkas are bottled at 40% ABV, well above the EU's legal minimum for vodka. The difference lies not in the alcohol content but in the raw material behind it, and that's exactly what comes through best neat, without cola or juice to mask it.