Dave Arnold (trust me, an expert) has a story, from when he helped run the technical program at the French Culinary Institute, about procuring and diluting potable lab alcohol to 40% ABV and then (IIRC) triangle-testing it with other vodkas. The upshot: while 'animats isn't right about whiskey, he's pretty much dead-on about vodka. It's best thought of as an industrial product.