Yeah, that's why brandy (distilled wine), Applejack (distilled or freeze-separated cider), Calvados (apples), tequila (agave hearts), etc all exist and have wildly differing tastes/smells.**Basically anything with sugar can make alcohol and distillation can be done in a way to exclude or incorporate the flavors.**Rum is sugarcane and tastes a little different from vodka.Gin is vodka that's been distilled, the alcohol vapor flowing up through a column filled with different herbs and spices which lend their flavors and aromatics.  You can also make a gin by infusing vodka with spices and herbs for a few weeks.Whiskey comes from corn or grains and tastes a lot like vodka which also comes from grains or potatoes, until it's aged in flamed barrels and picks up wood notes (vanilla, smoke, etc) that make it different.