I never had Absolut. My gf and I bought a small t

I never had Absolut. My gf and I bought a small trial bottle of Gray Goose for comparison. We did a shot of those straight. I actually thought GG was more neutral tasting - less flavor but it did have more burn. The Marani was harder for me to swallow as to me had a more distinctive taste. Less burn for sure.
My gf liked the Marani better straight, I liked GG better straight.

I don't drink it straight either - so I can't go into more detail. I've dumped Marani in all sorts of juices like Hawaiian punch, Sunny D, 7-up, sprite, OJ. and still prefer cranberry or red bull. Especially mixed in a larger tumbler - like a sports water bottle.

To me, Marani does seem to go fast as its really not that strong. It makes me more tired than buzzed - partly because I'm a lard ass who weighs over 250 pounds. So, to buy it from HiTimes is over $30 and is easy for me to pour a qtr of a bottle for one solo cup. So, its like a $8 drink so I try to go easy on it.

I'm the only guy who is saying this - we need to get a lower proof / more distilled version for the main grocery stores. I'm thinking the ABV has to be around 10% or 20 proof instead of current 40 proof. I think thats whats holding up Kroger. I've been to the marketplace Kroger this week and their vodka selection is utter garbage - mostly Kamachata plastic bottle rot-gut.