its only vodka is its 40% alcohol 80 proof. all flavored vodkas are 35/70 - its marketing bullshit
its not so much the flavor as it is the burn. good vodka doesnt have burn.
in reality, all vodka in the world is basically made by 3 distilleries and all the companies just buy that ethanol and filter it in their own facilities. thats why premium vodka is such a huge business. you buy the "raw" product elsewhere, filter it a bit and then market the shit out of it. unlike brown liquor, which you have to age for years to get a decent markup, vodka doesnt get better or worse with age. so you charge what you can get away with.
wormie is a great example of someone who bought into the hype. you put out 5 tumblers of grey goose, belvedere, ketel one, smirnoff and stolichnaya and he wont be able to tell you which is belvedere. better yet, he wont even be able to tell you which is "premium vodka" and which isnt.
im as russian as it gets. i drink vodka often and i never mix it. i dont do "shots" either like all these american faggots. i drink it like a normal person. and ill tell you right now that these days, the best vodka is Tito's and it comes from Austin, TX. Not Russia.