I am going to be contrary here and say “premium” vodka is ridiculous. Really cheap vodka can be awful, but I wouldn’t pay more than $15 US for 750ml (prices vary a lot from state to state based on taxes, that’s my Illinois cap. I buy Gordon’s 1500ml for $16.99, sometimes $12.99 on sale.
If you are near a Trader Joe’s which sells liquor, they used to have excellent Monopolowa vodka for about $14/liter. It’s been a few years for me, not sure if they still sell it.
And to back up my claim about premium vodka, I brought in a panel of experts:
“The idea for the Dining section’s tasting panel was to sample a range of the new high-end unflavored vodkas that have come on the market in the last few years in their beautifully designed bottles and to compare them with a selection of established super-premium brands. To broaden the comparison, or possibly as a bit of mischief, our tasting coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, added to our blind tasting a bottle of Smirnoff, the single best-selling unflavored vodka in the United States…After the 21 vodkas were sipped and the results compiled, the Smirnoff was our hands-down favorite.
NY Times – January 26, 2005