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Absolut unveils lime flavour after portfolio cull

Pernod Ricard has released a new lime variant for Absolut Vodka, after last year admitting a flavour cull had been implemented across the brand’s portfolio.

Absolut Lime will debut at the 59th Grammy Awards

Absolut Lime joins the brand’s citrus portfolio – which includes Absolut Citron, first released almost 30 years ago, and Absolut Mandrin, released 20 years ago.

The new variant will debut at the 59th Grammy Awards as part of a “multi-faceted” sponsorship, which will include TV, digital and social media exposure. Absolut Lime will also be used in the award ceremony’s signature cocktail, Absolut Limelight.

“Lime is a very dynamic and complex fruit and we believe we’ve created the perfect flavour blend in Absolut Lime to enhance and elevate a variety of cocktails,” said Nick Guastaferro, director of marketing, Absolut, Pernod Ricard USA.

“Thanks to a delicious flavour and easy mixability, Absolut Lime is great for going out or staying in, for creating simple or complex cocktails.”

Absolut Lime will be available across the US at an RRP of US$19.99 for a 750ml bottle and US$24.99 for a one-litre bottle.

The launch comes after the admittance of Gilles Bogaert, Pernod Ricard’s managing director of finance and operations, that the group had discontinued a number of flavours in Absolut’s portfolio to combat sales declines.

Bogaert said there were “too many flavours” for Absolut and that a reduction would “make space for more disruptive innovations”.

The executive added that Pernod was “on-track” to stabilise Absolut and “deliver” on the brand’s mid-term objectives.

Following a €404 million value write down for the brand in 2015, Absolut’s sales once again declined 4% in Pernod Ricard’s 2016 fiscal year.

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