It’s true. And not many casual imbibers of both spirits seem unaware of this fact. Not that it’ll rock your world necessarily. The neutral base spirit is usually distilled from a grain such as barley. There are some notable exceptions, such as the premium English brand Chase which distils from potatoes. They are potato farmers after all. They sold their potato crisps business which we know as Tyrells and sank their money into building a vodka distillery. The company now make both vodka and gin at Chase Farm in Herefordshire.
So what is gin?
What makes gin, gin is the botanicals added to it. The main one has to be juniper – in order to be called gin. Then, of course all the various gins differentiate themselves be having a different combination of botanicals. Typically many brands have around 9. However, there are some who look to strip things back and contain just 4 botanicals. At the other extreme is Monkey 47 which has 47 botanicals apparently and is bottled at 47% alcohol. Hence it’s name.
Meanwhile vodka goes the other way and tries to be the most neutrally flavoured spirit. Ideal for mixing in cocktails. It doesn’t give the drink a colour, nor a flavour. It’s an ideal cocktail. Read more about the structure of cocktails here.
So in spite of the fact that they both start life as the same distilled spirit, you may like one and not the other. Usually, this is “I love vodka, but I can’t stand gin!” It’s the botanicals then which are the issue. My view, is that there is always something you’ll like. Try an Old Tom Gin perhaps if you don’t like gin. Or a flavoured one, such as rhubarb gin with ginger ale. The other alternative of course is to try a gin based cocktail. There are many even for non-gin drinkers. How about a Green Apple Martini?