Australia beats Russia at their own game: Vodka

Something you certainly don’t expect. The Russians are known for their Vodka. Search your Vodka aisle in stores and you’ll find most of the range bottled in Russia. An Australian Vodka company has however gone under a blind test against many vodkas of the world and come out on top.

Celsius Research and Artisan Spirits Merchants put four vodkas in-front of 58 University students to taste and rate between 0 and 10. The line-up of Vodka’s were:

• Russian Standard (Russia)
• SKYY Vodka (Italy)
• Absolut Vodka (Sweden)
• Vodka O (Australia)

Australia is perhaps not well known for it’s vodka however in this taste test it was the favoured spirit.

29% of those surveyed preferred the Australian Vodka O while second place was Absolut followed by SKYY with the Russian Standard in last.

Nick Mann, the Global Marketing Director for ASM said in response to the results “We are delighted with the results of the test. We know that our vodka is smooth and has an extremely low impurity count due to its unique whey construction and now our thoughts have been vindicated by the consumers’ taste preferences. On average the shelf price of VODKA O™ is below these competitors and according to the respondents VODKA O™ tastes better. Given the price differential this makes VODKA O™ exceptional value.”

EFTM has taken a look to double check that the above is actually true and we found that Vodka O is actually the cheapest 700ml Vodka bottle among the range in the taste test. Vodka O is priced around the $31 mark while Absolut which came in at second on the taste tests will set you back $35.

While I would have liked to see some of the big names like Grey Goose tossed into the taste test it would be a little unfair when it alone costs $70 per bottle, more than double Vodka O.

This really is one of those days that feel a little awkward for the vodka motherland, Russia.