Smirnoff Scores

It was a shock to many vodka snobs when Smirnoff beat out 21 rival vodkas in a January blind tasting arranged by The New York Times. The panel, which included "New York’s leading cocktail experts," judged the vodkas on "interest, elegance, neutrality and balance" and Smirnoff, surprisingly, came out on top. This was big news among budget-conscious boozehounds like my husband since Smirnoff (once known as the Budweiser of vodkas) costs about $13 for a 750-ml bottle, less than three times the price of competitors it beat out in the taste test.
Last week, Victor and I got to see for ourselves, when we were invited to a blind taste test, hosted by Smirnoff at Pravda in SoHo.
This time the Smirnoff, which is the world's best selling vodka,
was up against only two competitors.
We were instructed to sniff each of the three glasses and then write down our descriptions of the aroma. Then we picked up each glass, sloshed it around and sipped it, then wrote down our observations.
During the process, we were continuously reminded that voka, by definition, is colorless, and nearly tasteless and odorless. So that was what we were looking for in our ratings.
I noted that the liquid in the glass on my far left was sweet and smooth, with a slight odor. The vodka in the glass on my far right was more pungent and had an almost medicinal taste initially, but then settled nicely. The vodka in the middle glass barely registered. It was smooth too but, in my opinion, somewhat unremarkable.
When the woman who was leading the tasting asked what we thought of the first vodka (on the left), I noted its sweetness. It was like caramel in my mouth (well, compared to the others at least). But, of course, I knew, as the other 20 or so guests did, that Smirnoff must be the vodka in the center. And, if we were grading vodkas on the traditional defintion--odorless, colorless, tasteless--then it would be the winner. So it was no surprise that when the woman took a show of hands as to which vodka met the criteria, the middle choice won. Nor was it a surprise that the middle glass contained Smirnoff. My neighbor and I correctly guessed that the vodka on the right was Grey Goose. But I was surprised to learn that the one of the left was Absolut.
The verdict: I would rate Smirnoff highest as a mixer. But if I was to order a vodka and soda (or one on the rocks), I'd probably go with Absolut.
Hey, I am not a purist. I like a little flavor in my vodka. I actually order Stoli O or Ciroc (a French vodka made from grapes) most of the time when I'm out.
For pursists, though, I'd highly recommend Smirnoff which, as we were reminded many times, is distilled three times (the maximum needed, according to Smirnoff sources--any more and the effect is negligable). But, more importantly, it is filtered through silver birch charcoal. Each drop of Smirnoff, according to the markerting reps, passes through 12 tons of charcoal, a prohibitively expensive process (one Smirnoff can only afford because it produces and sells so much vodka) that is reportedly more effective than any other means of filtration. And it is a damn good vodka, especially for the price.
Of course, after the tasting, Victor ordered an extra dry Smirnoff vodka martini straight up, with olives. While I ordered a glass of the new black cherry flavored vodka. Very flavorful.