A Colorado distillery just put West African montane forest honey in a bottle, and it’s going national.
Breckenridge Distillery, an award,winning craft spirits brand under Tilray Brands, has relaunched its Honey Whiskey, now infused with Goldswarm Raw Honey from Nigeria, bottled at 36% ABV (72 proof). The move is more than a product refresh. It is a statement about where premium ingredients are coming from, and how the global spirits industry is looking to Africa in new ways.
Founded by Omar Lababidi, Goldswarm is a premium honey company established in 2020, sourcing wild, sustainably harvested honey from Nigeria’s montane forests, with a mission that extends beyond flavour to support rural beekeeping communities while bringing rich, unfiltered honey to global markets. Lababidi was born in Estes Park, Colorado, before moving to Nigeria as a teenager, and his story is one of two homelands finding each other in a bottle. The connection between Lababidi and Breckenridge runs deeper than commerce: he is the grandson of Richard S. Kitchen, one of the founding members of the Denver Broncos and Secretary of the Board of the team. Heritage, it seems, was always in the bottle.
Originally launched in 2025 as a limited,edition expression in partnership with the Denver Broncos, and conceived as a tribute to the team’s 2015 World Championship, Breckenridge Honey Whiskey now stands as a permanent fixture within the Breckenridge Whiskey portfolio. Its graduation from sports,tied novelty to a full portfolio entry signals growing confidence in honey,forward flavoured whiskey as a category with sustained consumer pull.
On the nose, the whiskey opens with warm molasses and golden honey, layered with soft holiday spice, toasted oak and a whisper of vanilla. On the palate, rich honey sweetness leads, balanced by mature oak and a cozy blend of holiday spice, finishing with a smooth cinnamon warmth that lingers.
“Our goal is always to create whiskeys that are both approachable and layered with character. The rare Goldswarm honey brings a depth and richness that complements our whiskey beautifully, resulting in a spirit that is smooth, distinctive and unmistakably Breckenridge.” — Bryan Nolt, Founder and CEO, Breckenridge Distillery
For the beverage industry, the significance of this launch stretches well beyond tasting notes. It fits squarely into an accelerating trend of African ingredients gaining serious traction in mainstream Western spirits production. As Wine Enthusiast noted in a recent feature, the time is increasingly seen as ripe for African spirits to step into the spotlight, with bartenders and producers drawn to the continent’s biodiversity and the craft, story,driven quality of its ingredients.
Goldswarm honey is sustainably harvested from the montane forests of West Africa, with every jar supporting thriving bees, empowering local communities, and serving as a cultural bridge between Nigeria and the United States, with a deeply personal and familial connection to Colorado. It is precisely this kind of supply chain storytelling that today’s premium spirits consumer responds to, and that sets this whiskey apart from the crowded flavoured spirits shelf.
From a commercial standpoint, Tilray’s timing is deliberate. The Breckenridge Honey Whiskey relaunch fits the company’s ongoing strategy of expanding branded beverage offerings, coming just days after the group reported record Q3 fiscal 2026 results, with net revenue climbing to $207 million, representing 11% organic growth. The Honey Whiskey is positioned to pull volume across multiple retail tiers and use occasions.
The whiskey is available in 750ml, 1L, 1.75L and 50ml formats, targeting gifting, cocktails and on,the,go occasions. Colorado local retailers have it now, with broader national distribution arriving mid,April 2026.
Back in Nigeria, the Goldswarm story continues to resonate. Against a backdrop of regulatory tensions shaping the local drinks industry, seeing a Nigerian ingredient anchor a nationally distributed American whiskey brand is a different kind of headline, one about the export power of African craft and the quiet influence of its producers on global shelves.
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