The history of Smirnoff Vodka began in 1910 when Vladimir Smirnov took over the company after the death of his father Pyotr Smirnov. During the October Revolution, the distillery was confiscated and the family had to flee to Constantinople, where Vladimir built a new distillery. Four years later the family moved to Lviv; in 1925 the spelling of the name was changed to Smirnoff and by the late 1930s Smirnoff was exported to most European countries. In 1934, Vladimir Smirnov sold the company to Rudolph Kunett, who moved the headquarters to the United States. In the meantime Smirnoff belongs to Diageo and is one of the most sold vodkas worldwide.

By the way, Smirnoff was the first distillery worldwide to use charcoal for filtering.