Not the world's biggest vodka fan, but here are a few thoughts...
"Vodka" is distilled grain alcohol, with "water", to give it a 40% or better mix, according to the law of the country its processed in, unless we transfer over to "moonshine" that is illegally distilled (I've "tasted" this, too...make sure you "burn the cork" to get blue flame instead of yellow, or it may be "deadly")
Anyways, if you have a pot of 100% "pure" alcohol, you can make vodka by diluting it to 40% strength, which is pretty much what the distilleries do, using water...
So the "premium" you are paying for is the water...be this "tap water" out of Saskatoon Saskatchewan, the "Natural Springs" of Guelph Ontario, the ecoli infected waters of Walkerton Ontario, the primeval "ice" of the glaciers off Newfoundland, or the "everyone from Thunder Bay, through Chicago and Detroit, but not yet Buffalo has pissed into this" offering of Lake Erie...(okay, all right already! the alcohol is sterilising it!)(just note the "flavour")
Very few of us drink vodka "straight" without ice...and being non-smokers with a clear palate...so as to give a rendition of what a "brand" tastes like...
And after two, if not three, drinks, your tongue is pretty much gone to bed for the night on terms of "taste", so you'd have to pick up on this with both a "clear palate" (sp?) (likewise with the really "good" scotches, the Irish "Heresies", the "designer" rums...
Like unto vodka, Gin is a "chemical formula"...its an alcohol infused with juniper berries or something, made today, bottled tomorrow and sold the next day...
So the "form" of the "bottle" may have a lot to do with the price of the final offering, as the fancy shaped bottle is amongst the distiller's costs,...before the government begins taxing it...
"aged" brandy, rye, Scotch, Rum, or even, God forgive me! "bourbon" loses mass and volume and locks down the "investment" in a given yar's production, and tastes "different" according to its age...
"CC", aka "Canadian Club" tastes like it is... a 5 year old. "aged" in a steel can, but with the world's most expensive marketing...Glenn Fiddich may be the best selling Scotch, but by no means is the best tasting...Johnnie Walker might cater to NA taste, but "sucks" when compared to really good Scots whiskies...and some tried and "aged" rums, say 8 years or older, give both "value" and "taste"..
Though if you mix ANY of them with "Coke", you lose my "vote" to have an "opinion" (LOL, of course not,. we all do these things our own way!)
Anyways, I'm getting off topic here, but "vodka's" can be confused in any number of ways...
"Absolut" would indeed be the "best brand", along with "Polar Ice", if you can find it outside of Canada, and "Smirnoff's" would be the biggest rip off, as they charge the buyer for the brand recognition thing, and their BIG advertising...(much like Cdn Club!)...
Lifter