Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered, distilled in Cape Town using native fynbos botanicals, was recently crowned Spirit of the Year South Africa at the 2025 Bartender Spirits Awards. With its natural hue and bright, botanical-led complexity, the gin has found a unique voice in an increasingly crowded spirits market. Behind its growing presence in the US is Alyssa Wolf of Red Wolf Imports, a company focused on premium selections from lesser-known regions. We spoke with Alyssa about what sets this gin apart, how the award is shaping its American journey, and what it takes to build an authentic brand story across borders.

Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered was recently named Spirit of the Year South Africa at the 2025 Bartender Spirits Awards. How do you plan to leverage this recognition in the US market, both with trade and consumers?

Trade: 

○ With the help of Sugarbird, I have made custom shelf talkers and stack sheets, which can be both printed and utilized digitally. Naturally, I have shared the award and POS tools with my distributor partners, and am sharing these in the market during sales calls as well. 

○ Red Wolf Imports has over 6K Instagram followers, some of whom are trade, and I have shared this wonderful news through my social media platforms as well. 

○ Shelf talkers and stack sheets reach consumers as well, both in person at shops and digitally on social media. 

○ I’ve sent out a newsletter highlighting the award and have offered my readers some simple at-home cocktail ideas featuring Sugarbird gin. 

Image: Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered - Spirit of the Year South Africa at the 2025 Bartender Spirits Awards.

Sugarbird Distillery crafts its gins using indigenous Cape botanicals with a signature long-tail finish. What makes Juniper Unfiltered particularly special, and how do you communicate its unique character—bright cardamom, floral fennel, and citrus—to US buyers and drinkers?

Gin is such a unique spirit that has its own “terroir,” perhaps even more so than wine. It is a spirit that can give buyers and drinkers an actual sense of space. Sugarbird’s fynbos botanicals, Cape Geranium, Rooibos, and Cape May, to name a few, only grow in a very small part of the world. You can’t find a gin like Sugarbird made in the US, the UK, or anywhere else in the world. It is truly unique to South Africa. 

Juniper Unfiltered’s color is natural and stable. The color comes from juniper berries, fynbos botanicas, and blueberry skins (also a botanical). It does not turn brown over time with depletion, and won’t change colors unexpectedly in a cocktail. The color is not added. It is part of the essence of the spirit. 

The “long tail” ties in Sugarbird’s name. The gin is distilled from South African sugar, and the “Sugarbird” is a pollinator of the Cape fynbos plants, with its signature long tail. 

Can you tell us more about your partnership with Sugarbird and Kindred Spirits? What drew Red Wolf Imports to this producer, and how does it align with your broader portfolio?

One of my distributor partners inquired about South African gin right at the time we planned to expand our portfolio to spirits. I started to do some research and reached out to a connection in South Africa, who happened to be working for a distribution company carrying one of our wines in the Cape. I knew, based on that, they had a solid portfolio with premium products, and I asked for a recommendation.

Kindred Spirits makes high-quality products that deliver excellent quality for the price. Owner and founder Matt Bresler is passionate about fynbos plants and Cape flora in general. He distills each botanical separately due to varying potencies of flavors and aromas, and mixes each distillation to create the final product. This innovation and dedication to art, nature, and science, to a spirit we are all familiar with, is the epitome of the Red Wolf brand: “Built on Tradition. Not Constrained by it.” 

Image: Sugarbird is the perfect gin to drink neat over ice, in a G&T, or a delicious cocktail.

Where is Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered currently available in the US? Could you name any specific retail chains, independent shops, or restaurant groups where consumers can find it?

Washington, D.C & Maryland 

○ Absolutely Wine of Spirits 

○ Bin 604 

○ Chesapeake Wine Company 

○ Columbia Palace 

○ Etabli 

○ Glenwood Wine & Spirits 

○ Kenilworth Wine & Spirits 

○ La Plaza 

○ Letena Restaurant 

○ Liquor Valley (formerly Tonic) 

○ Magothy Wine & Spirits 

○ Mr. Henry’s Capitol Hill 

○ Mt Vernon Super Mart 

○ Musket Ridge Golf Club 

○ Pasadena Wine & Spirits 

○ Perfect Pour 

○ Serv-U Liquors 

○ Sohal Wine and Spirits 

○ Wilcom’s Inn 

○ Willow Tree Liquors 

○ Wine Bin 

● Pittsburgh, PA 

○ Palate Partners and Dreadnought Wines 

● Tennessee 

○ Delirium Distribution 

○ Total Wine 

Image: Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered at Total Wine.

What’s your distribution strategy for Sugarbird in the US and beyond? Are there expansion plans into new states or international markets in the next 12–18 months?

Red Wolf is focused on small to medium distribution partners where our products won’t be lost in a massive book. Red Wolf Imports has leads in two more US territories and will proceed with further expansion into 2026 (tariff situation depending). There is also potential for government contacts. 

In what ways do you support your distribution and retail partners in moving product, particularly a niche but award-winning gin like Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered?

We support our partners by in-person market visits, tastings, and events such as dinners and cocktail classes. We provide POS materials, which are readily available on our website. We also provide social media support to both distribution partners and retail partners. 

In March of this year, Red Wolf was asked by a D.C.-based wine shop to organize and guide a consumer trip to South Africa. We lead two groups through a one-week-long tour of wine country and Cape Town. On the first night for each group, the Sugarbird team joined us for a presentation, preparing special cocktails for the guests and educating us all on the special Cape Fynbos Kingdom. 

What marketing initiatives are you prioritizing for Sugarbird in 2025, especially post-award? Are there plans for collaborations, trade shows, or storytelling campaigns?

My goal is to connect with distributors. We have a solid book, with high-quality products from underrepresented regions that overdeliver on price. Marketing to reach the trade is challenging for a small company. 

I have plans for social media and storytelling campaigns, newsletter, POS materials, etc, but trade shows are tricky for us as a small business, with high costs, limited guaranteed payout, especially now when small importers are trying to anticipate the tariffs. Collaborations in the Bartender Spirits community would be welcome and valued. 

Image Source: Sugarbird’s Promotional Material

Sustainability is an increasing focus in the spirits world. How is Sugarbird addressing environmental concerns in its production or packaging, and how important is that narrative in your brand positioning?

At Sugarbird, we’ve always drawn inspiration from the Cape’s natural heritage, so it’s only fitting that we take our responsibility toward the environment seriously too. Over the past year, we’ve made meaningful changes to how we package and present our products, particularly around gifting and transit. This adds a considered, craft feel to our presentation, something our customers really value, but we of course view it as essential. 

We’ve transitioned away from bubble wrap to Geami wrap, a recyclable, biodegradable honeycomb paper alternative for protecting bottles in transit. Likewise, in our popular gifting ranges, we’ve moved from plastic vac packs to custom cardboard inserts to hold our mini bottles in place.

Within our broader portfolio, one of our associated brands contributes R5 per pack sold toward the Timbavati Foundation, supporting conservation and education projects near the Kruger National Park. While not directly a Sugarbird initiative, it reflects our wider commitment to causes that protect South Africa’s natural beauty. 

Finally, what does winning Spirit of the Year South Africa at Bartender Spirits Awards mean for Sugarbird—and for Red Wolf Imports?

Red Wolf: We are honored that our gin has received this prestigious award. We are proud to represent Sugarbird in the US and are thrilled to see the gins receive recognition by some of the nation’s top talents in the spirits industry. South Africa offers the US gin drinkers the opportunity to taste something truly unique to the Cape. Thank you to the Bartender Spirits Awards for recognizing Sugarbird! 

Sugarbird: Beyond the pride of having our liquid recognised on an international stage, what really matters to us is who it’s being judged by, and seasoned bartenders and beverage pros, who are tasting blind and calling it as they see (or sip) it, is invaluable to us. 

To have Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered named South African Spirit of the Year is no small thing. We're a small, determined craft brand from the Cape, inspired by the wild beauty of the Cape Floral Kingdom… so to earn a bit of US bar scene street cred? That’s a major milestone. 

We work hard every day, finding ways to bring an enterprising, authentic South African craft spirit to market, and recognition like this feels like a marker of how far we’ve come, as well as a bit of fuel for the road ahead. Today, you’ll find Sugarbird in parts of Southern Africa, Europe, Canada, the U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australasia. We’re nowhere near done yet. This win gives us that little extra wind in our wings.

Image: Winners at 2025 Bartender Spirits Awards - (Left) Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered and (Right) Sugarbird Original Fynbos Gin.

Conclusion:

In Sugarbird Juniper Unfiltered, Red Wolf Imports has found more than just a standout spirit, it has discovered a compelling story rooted in place, process, and purpose. The Bartender Spirits Awards win may offer a springboard, but it’s the blend of considered marketing, committed partnerships, and a clear sense of identity that will determine what comes next. As more consumers seek out originality and provenance in their glass, this South African gin, and the team championing it, may well find itself with wind in its wings and new markets in sight.

Header Image: Alyssa Wolf, owner of Red Wolf Imports.

In conversation with Malvika Patel, Editor and VP, Beverage Trade Network

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