The Smirnoff brand was founded in 1864 by Piotr Arseneevich (P. A. ) Smirnov and before long, he became one of the most famous vodka makers in Russia. In 1886, he even received the Tsar?s special designation as a Purveyor of the Imperial Court, which is a fancy way of saying Official Vodka-Maker of Tsar Type People.

Now safely disguised by a new name and a slightly offensive fake French accent, Vladimir revived the brand. Lots of other interesting stuff happened. Vladimir married a model and sang in a band and grew a series of beards, but probably the best thing he did was bring a triple distilled, 10 times filtered, award winning, cola-improving, martini-making vodka to the world. For former czars and current stars. For vodka connoisseurs and people who just like vodka. For everybody.