One of the things I love about covering spirits is the travel. On my quest to increase my knowledge and cover all the different categories of spirits, I’ve found myself in some pretty amazing places, talking to some pretty incredible people. Recently my travels brought me to a little town in the Netherlands, about an hour and a half away from Amsterdam, called Schiedam.

This little town used to be a spirits mecca, producing spirits for countries around the world. Although many of the old distilleries in Schiedam have faded away, the Nolet Distillery, makers of Ketel One Vodka, is still there. The Nolet Distillery is an amazing fusion of old world, family business, and modern technology. In one corner of the distillery is the original “Distilleer Ketel One” (all stills in Dutch distilleries are numbered), which is still used today, and in the other is a modern warehouse, fully automated, that stores and manages over 1/2 million cases of spirits.

Of all the spirits out there, I think that vodka is the one that is often the most taken for granted. People don’t think much about why they like the vodka they drink, and they often lean on liking or disliking a brand rather than the flavors and experience. While vodka doesn’t deliver the same symphony of flavors as say whisky or cognac, I do always love to sit down and actually taste vodka.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to sit and taste several vodkas side-by-side, without anything in them, I encourage you to, as it’s an enlightening experience. In the case of Ketel One, I tasted it blind along side two of the other leading vodkas in the market, Grey Goose and Absolut. I’ve long since been a fan of Absolut vodka and a harsh critic of Grey Goose, and the tasting alongside Ketel One reinforced my feelings.

First, let me dispatch with Grey Goose. I’ve tasted Grey Goose blind now on numerous occasions in comparison to many other vodkas—and I’ve never liked it.  I don’t like Grey Goose because there’s simply nothing to like about it—it’s dull, flat, and flavorless. It delivers nothing in terms of taste experience and gives you zero bang for the buck. Absolut, on the other hand, is an excellent wheat-based vodka, with a soft, sweet taste that has slightly cherry notes to it. It’s a well-made vodka at a good price.

In this tasting, Ketel One stood out for what it uniquely offers. Of the three, Ketel offers the crispest vodka experience, with no burn but a nice tingly mouth experience There are light, sweet citrus and pepper notes in the taste, but nothing that’s too overpowering, and the finish is clean and nice.

I’m a believer that there’s the right spirit out there for everyone, and the best way to find that is to taste and taste and taste. For me, Ketel One is one I’ll reach for when I’m looking for a light, crisp, and clean vodka.