Smirnoff
DIAGEO AMERICAS SUPPLY, INC. — PLAINFIELD, IL
Illinois, New York, Texas
In a 2019 feature, The Spirits Business recounts a South Carolina salesman pitching Smirnoff as "white whiskey" and calls the brand Diageo's top seller. Read the brand history
Jump to: Brand history · Labels · At a Glance · Producers · Sources
| Label Name | Spirit Type | Status | Approval Date | Producer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Smirnoff VODKA 100 PROOF UP | Vodka 100 Proof Up | Approved | 2026-10-14 | DIAGEO AMERICAS SUPPLY, INC. |
 | Smirnoff VODKA 80-89 PROOF | Vodka 80-89 Proof | Approved | 2024-12-16 | DIAGEO AMERICAS SUPPLY, INC. |
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Smirnoff at a Glance
Smirnoff has 2 distinct products with 10 total TTB label approvals, including Vodka 100 Proof Up, Vodka 80-89 Proof. Labels approved between 2020-09-15 and 2026-10-14. Label origins on file: Illinois, New York, Texas.
At a Glance data sourced from public TTB records.
Smirnoff Vodka: From a Moscow Distillery to Heublein and the Moscow Mule
Pyotr Smirnov built his Moscow distillery in 1864, and his son Vladimir took the brand out of Russia when he fled the revolution, The Spirits Business says. By the mid-1970s Smirnoff had become America's top-selling spirit, the same publication reports.
How Smirnoff left Russia
Pyotr Smirnov's spirit was purer than most thanks to his pioneering use of charcoal filtration, according to The Spirits Business. Abroad, Vladimir opened a small distillery for the westernised Smirnoff brand, and the article's timeline has him selling Smirnoff from 1923.
How Heublein brought Smirnoff vodka to America
Rudolph Kunett acquired the US rights in 1933, and Smirnoff began production in the US the next year, according to The Spirits Business. Six years after his purchase, Kunett sold the rights to John Martin, president of Heublein, for US$14,000, The Spirits Business says. Encyclopedia.com's history of Heublein, which spells the seller's name Rudolf Kunett, dates Martin's purchase of the trademark and distilling process to 1939.
In 1941 Martin and his friend Jack Morgan, owner of Hollywood's Cock'n Bull restaurant, mixed Smirnoff with Morgan's unsold ginger beer, The Spirits Business recounts. They served it in a copper mug as a Moscow Mule. The brand was there for Sean Connery's first appearance as James Bond in 1962, the publication adds.
Who has owned Smirnoff
RJR Nabisco sold Heublein to Grand Metropolitan in March 1987 for $1.3 billion, when Heublein was essentially a vodka distiller whose brands included Smirnoff, Encyclopedia.com records. The Spirits Business timeline lists 1987 as the year Smirnoff was acquired by International Distillers and Vintners. In its February 2019 feature, the trade title reported sales of 26 million cases the previous year.
Smirnoff is produced in 16 countries, including the Philippines, India, Latvia, and Kenya, and the grain it is distilled from varies, the same feature says. Diageo's website describes Smirnoff as triple distilled and 10 times filtered and says it is sold in 130 or more countries.
Smirnoff label filers on file
In the BUY.VODKA TTB snapshot, Diageo Americas Supply, Inc. of Plainfield, Illinois filed Smirnoff approvals listing New York or Illinois as the label origin on file. Approvals dated 30 October to 16 December 2024 were filed by Gulf Coast Distillers, Buffalo Bayou Distilleries, LLC of Houston, Texas, with Texas as the label origin on file. Each approval is listed in the TTB label records for Smirnoff on this page.
Sources
- Diageo. “Smirnoff | Diageo.” Undated. https://www.diageo.com/en/our-brands/vodka/smirnoff
- The Spirits Business. “Smirnoff: a brand history.” 28 February 2019. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2019/02/smirnoff-a-brand-history/
- Encyclopedia.com (International Directory of Company Histories). “Heublein, Inc.” Undated. https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/heublein-inc
- TTB Public COLA Registry via BUY.VODKA data snapshot (src/data/labels.json, local build 15 October 2026). “Smirnoff” label approvals. Local read-only query, 15 October 2026.
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Produced at Multiple Facilities
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