(NC)-Take a look at the vodka labeling next time you shop.

The familiar "red dot" vodka in that ice-sculptured bottle has a new, and almost identical mate. This time, however, the same icy-white vodka has added a touch of lime - on both the outside, and inside the bottle.

Finlandia, the vodka that uses a vivid red dot to signify the midnight sun, has added a refreshing new product this year. Since lime and its flavour is one of the most popular and appropriate enhancements to any vodka cocktail, it is now being made available as a perfect, proportionate blend. With Finlandia Vodka Lime, you get the same 80 proof premium vodka, but now with a hint of natural lime.

The Finns are known to celebrate the arrival of their brief summers with irrepressible pleasure. They revel in the warmth and the summer sunlight, which - in the northern parts of the country - shines literally 24 hours a day. Since 1970, the midnight sun dot has appeared on Finlandia Vodka behind three white nordic reindeer. The vodka tradition of this distiller however goes back to 16th century.

Why is one vodka smoother than another?

"The goal when distilling vodka is to produce a totally pure spirit, one without the slightest trace of anything else," says Corey Ball, group brand manager for Finlandia. "Ours follows a set of rigorous steps, but here are some of the essentials:

• The purest spring water: Very few vodka distillers have access to glacial spring waters they way Finlandia does. The springs used are naturally filtered through glacial moraine rock. The water is so pure in fact, any artificial filtering would actually diminish its purity.

• Premium barley: The best distillers grain is six-row barley. It offers the highest quality starch and the lowest quantity of natural fatty oils, the type that are responsible for the off-tastes and the off-odours in other brands. It is no coincidence that six-row barley is the grain used for producing the most distinguished single malt scotches and premium beers.

• Continuous distillation: To achieve a totally pure spirit the liquid grains must be distilled continuously, at precisely the right temperatures. If a vodka has to be 'sent back' two or three times you will never achieve it.

"For Finlandia," says Ball, "producing the highest quality vodka available is a 400-year-old tradition. So when our new Finlandia Vodka Lime takes its rightful place on your bar this season, you can be assured of serving your guests only the very best."

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