Founded in Moscow in 1864 by Pyotr Smirnov. Pyotr found a distillery it was here on when he used charcoal filtration to begin purifying his products.
It went on to be a massive success as we all know today. 1904 saw the Smirnov family flee to Poland due to the Bolshevik revolution and they went on to call it Smirnoff.
Only until it got marketed in the USA it was known as a white whiskey with no taste and no smell, it went to be a success again.
Now it has become one of the most popularised vodka's and the nicest tasting in the world.