Sorry dude, but it’s true:
“Distilled gin is made by redistilling white grain spirit which has been flavoured with juniper berries. Compound gin is made by flavouring neutral grain spirit with juniper berries without redistilling and can be considered a flavoured vodka.”
-A la Wiki.
Though not always made from grain, vodka is essentially nothing more than a neutral grain spirit. It’s the added botanicals that make gin not taste like rubbing alcohol.
You’re right it’s not exactly vodka, it’s vodka made less pure.
I do like it better. I’m not too big on sipping vodka, but gin is another story. It’s also way more classic. There’s a famous bar in San Francisco called Aub Zam Zam. It’s Moroccan-themed and was big in the mid-century, heyday of the martini. Apparently the owner Bruno was a sort of martini “nazi”. In all the years he was still around, if someone tried to order a vodka, or non-gin martini they were instantly booted, no joke.
Read this if you get bored.