Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I thought it was appropriate to tell about Smirnoff's history because we found out recently it was made in Russia. Well it all started with Piotr Arsenieyevich Smirnov in 1860s Moscow. When he died in 1910 it was succeeded by Vladimir Smirnov in which the company flourished. However, Vladimir had to flee Moscow during the October Revolution when it distillery was confiscated. Vladimir and his family moved to Istanbul and 4 years later moved again to what is now Lviv, Ukraine. The Company turned again into a success and by 1930 was selling the drink to most European countries. In the 1930s Vladimir met Rudolph Kunet, a Russian who moved to North America. Vladimir gave Rudolph the rights to start producing Smirnoff in North America. Smirnoff did not become famous like Rudolph hoped, and most of you would believe. He sold his rights to a man by the name of John Martin who was president of Heublein. Through John's advertising efforts Smirnoff became famous. YEY!