From a Scottish Dream to Rocky Mountain Reality: Rick Thomas Distillery Releases Its First Premium Whiskey
Black Hawk, Colorado, has always been a place of extraction — gold pulled from its creeks, money pulled from its casino floors. Now, father-and-son distillers Brian and Declan Watts are trying to pull something more lasting from the mountains above that old mining town: world-class whiskey. With the release of their inaugural American single malt on July 17, 2025, Rick Thomas Distillery has crossed from promising upstart into a new chapter entirely, one that enthusiasts across the state have been quietly anticipating since the first barrels were filled more than two years ago.
With an American single malt whiskey slated for release on July 17 — along with a bourbon following later in the summer and a rye further down the road — father-son team Brian and Declan Watts are expanding beyond the vodka and one-year-aged corn whiskey they've had on the market under their 1859 label. For a distillery that has operated largely under the radar since it opened its doors, this release marks a significant public statement: Rick Thomas is here, its whiskey is ready, and it's playing for keeps.
The Man Behind the Name
Every great distillery carries a story, and Rick Thomas Distillery's runs deep. The distillery is named for Declan's grandfather, Rick Thomas Watts, who Declan said "was a Scotch guy." That simple description carries real weight here. It explains the deliberate choice to plant Scottish pot stills on a Colorado mountainside, the commitment to single malt as the cornerstone of production, and the relentless attention to flavor that the Watts family says has characterized the entire operation since day one.
The distillery is named after the father and grandfather to the owners, Richard Thomas Watts, who always enjoyed a dram of his favorite scotch, and they strive to make a whiskey that he would be proud of. It's a founding motivation that keeps things personal — and for the team of distillers working the stills at 8,600 feet above sea level, that personal stake shows in the product.
Building Something That Lasts: The Origin Story
The Watts began planning for the distillery in 2019, eventually building out a facility in the town's forthcoming Artisans' Point development on Miners Road. Construction wasn't a quick affair. The Rick Thomas Distillery, at 830 Miners Road, was the first to break ground and recently finished their construction that began in 2021. Years of planning, permitting, and building in a mountain environment preceded even a single drop of whiskey going into a barrel.
The building itself is no afterthought. The distillery building is designed to match the historic look of Black Hawk, modeled after the ironworks building that was torn down in the middle of the 20th century. That architectural nod to the town's industrial past isn't just aesthetic — it's a signal that the Watts family intends for Rick Thomas to be permanently woven into Black Hawk's identity, not just another pop-up craft operation capitalizing on the spirits boom.
The location itself is part of something larger. Artisans' Point is a mostly undeveloped 22-acre piece of land above town on Miner's Mesa, and Black Hawk would like to fill it with ten or so newly built small-batch distilleries and breweries, each producing its own liquid assets on site as part of a collective of adult-beverage companies. Rick Thomas was first through the door, and the distillery carries that pioneering status with visible pride.
The Scottish Hardware in the Rocky Mountains
Walk into most American craft distilleries and you'll find column stills — efficient, consistent, and ubiquitous. Rick Thomas went a different direction entirely. Their stills are custom hand-made in Scotland by a family that has been making them for centuries. To really bring tradition into distilling, the stills are the classic pot-style used to produce whiskey in Scotland — a style that has been used to make complex and smooth whiskey for over a thousand years.
The distinction isn't trivial. Nearly all whiskey made in America uses a column-style still, which is a very accurate process and typically produces a very clean whiskey, while pot-style stills leave many oils and flavor compounds in the spirit to produce a more robust whiskey. Either process can be used to make incredible whiskeys — they just have different characteristics. By choosing the pot still, the Watts family made a deliberate bet on complexity and depth over efficiency and uniformity.
The stills were specifically designed after the stills used to make their favorite Islay scotches. Islay — the Scottish island responsible for some of the world's most peat-forward, maritime, intensely flavored malts — is not an easy reference point to invoke. It signals ambition. Whether the American single malt coming out of Black Hawk will ever land in the same conversation as Laphroaig or Bruichladdich is beside the point. What matters is that the Watts family is building toward that kind of legacy, one barrel at a time. For the record, the stills are traditional Scottish stills made by Forsyth — one of the most respected still makers in Scotland with a client list that spans the globe.
Elevation as an Ingredient
Talk to any distiller who has worked at altitude, and they'll tell you the environment changes everything. The Watts family has leaned hard into their location — over 8,600 feet above sea level — not just as a marketing angle, but as a genuine production philosophy.
Along with the choice of still, the location at more than 8,600 feet in elevation helps them produce a quality product. "We believe that helps the aging process. Low humidity, big temperature swings gets us to our peak quicker than aging in Kentucky at 300 or 400 feet elevation," says Brian.
The logic tracks. In mountain climates, extreme swings between day and night temperatures force whiskey in and out of the wood far more aggressively than in the temperate lowlands of Kentucky or Tennessee. The wood works faster. Evaporation rates — the so-called "angel's share" — are higher in dry, low-humidity environments. The result can be a whiskey that tastes older than its age certificate would suggest, with more concentrated flavor compounds and a deeper color than you'd typically see in a younger spirit. This is exactly what Rick Thomas's early tastings have been showing.
The distillery sits on top of Miners Road in the Artisans Point District of Black Hawk, Colorado at 8,655 feet in elevation, where the team works day and night to craft spirits worthy of their incredible mountain location, using 100% Colorado grains and water from some of the highest peaks. Water sourcing matters just as much as grain selection in whiskey production. Rick Thomas' signature 1859 vodka — and by extension their whiskey water supply — takes advantage of the water from the eastern slope of James Peak at 13,294 feet in elevation. That's exceptionally pure source water, and it runs through everything produced at the distillery.
Colorado Grain, Local Roots
The single malt and the broader lineup coming out of Rick Thomas aren't built on imported grain or generic commodity inputs. All of their grain is sourced from Colorado — the corn from the Whiskey Sisters and the barley, rye, and wheat from the San Luis Valley. The San Luis Valley, a high-altitude agricultural basin in southern Colorado, is particularly well-suited to growing malting barley. Its dry, cool climate produces grain with high enzyme content and strong fermentability — characteristics that translate directly into the flavor of finished whiskey.
The circular economy that flows from the operation is worth noting as well. The cooling tower is located outside next to a chute that dumps spent grain, which is collected by farmers who feed it to their cattle. Silos outside contain 1,000 bushels of corn, roughly 50,000 pounds. This is a full-scale agricultural operation embedded into a distillery, not a boutique showroom project.
Single-malt whiskey will be the focus, taking up over fifty percent of production. Other spirits to be distilled include bourbon, blue bourbon, rye, corn whiskey, and blue corn whiskey. The blue corn expressions in particular will be worth watching as the distillery matures — blue corn brings a distinct sweetness and nutty character that differentiates it sharply from yellow dent corn, the standard in most American corn whiskeys and bourbons.
The Whiskey: What to Expect in the Glass
Early tasting notes from the first barrels of single malt have generated real excitement within the distillery — and cautious optimism from industry peers who have had the chance to sample it ahead of the official release.
"We recently shared some small samples with some industry peers, and the comments I was getting back were they were surprised at how dark and how well aged it seemed, being just under three years old," Declan says. That kind of feedback — coming from people in the business who taste whiskey for a living — is a significant data point. In the American single malt category, where many expressions are bottled between two and four years of age, color depth and apparent maturity are hard-won qualities.
Declan elaborated on the flavor profile: "It's got a great color. You get some sweetness. You get grain-forward flavors, which is common with pot stills. Surprisingly smooth, because they were tasting it at high proof." Grain-forward character is the honest hallmark of a well-made single malt that hasn't been stripped of its identity in the still or buried under years of new oak. For enthusiasts who gravitate toward the malt-driven, cereal-rich profiles of classic Scotch whisky, this description should pique real interest.
On the bourbon side, which is expected to drop roughly a month after the single malt, the early numbers are equally encouraging. "So far, those barrels are surprisingly good. I was pretty sure they're going to be real good, but I'm blown away in what I'm tasting," Declan says. "We're getting a lot of notes of those dark fruits coming through. On average, the barrels are looking around 114 proof. And the bite isn't there like you'd expect with 114 proof. It's pretty darn smooth."
Dark fruit at barrel proof without the harsh alcohol burn is a marker of well-handled wood interaction and controlled fermentation. At 114 proof average barrel entry, these are high-intensity barrels — and the fact that the bite isn't punishing speaks directly to the effect of elevation-accelerated aging smoothing out the rough edges that younger American whiskeys often carry.
From Barrel to Bottle: A Patient Process
Rick Thomas isn't rushing anything to shelf. The first Rick Thomas malt whiskey will consist of eight barrels, and even after blending, they'll take weeks to bring the batch down from barrel proof (generally between 55 to 60% ABV) to bottle proof (48% ABV) to help preserve the most delicate flavors and aromas. That slow reduction is a hallmark of serious whiskey production — aggressive dilution can shock the spirit and cause emulsification of the oils responsible for texture and mouthfeel. A gradual cut respects the chemistry of what's in the barrel.
Selecting and blending the right barrels for the blend, then slowly bringing down the ABV to bottle strength, is a weeks-long process. Eight barrels is a small release by any measure. At a typical fill of roughly 50 gallons per barrel and accounting for angel's share losses over nearly three years in the wood, the first batch of Rick Thomas single malt will likely yield somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 to 350 bottles — possibly fewer. First-release scarcity is practically guaranteed.
Once the malt whiskey is bottled and out on the shelves, they'll repeat the same process with the bourbon, holding another release party a month or so later as the blending schedule allows. The distillery's sequential, event-driven release strategy mirrors how many of the most-sought-after American craft producers operate — building community around each launch rather than rolling out product quietly to distributors and hoping for shelf velocity.
The Release Party: Where Black Hawk Meets Single Malt
The July 17 launch wasn't designed to be a quiet affair. There will be live music, food, tastings of the new malt whiskey, and bottles available for sale. The release party runs from 4 p.m. to about 7 p.m., though Declan Watts said they wouldn't necessarily be kicking visitors out right at 7. That casual, community-forward approach to the event captures something essential about what Rick Thomas is trying to build — not a hyped, lottery-style drop, but a genuine gathering around a product the distillery is proud of.
The malt whiskey became available for distribution the following Monday, July 20. While the tasting room isn't officially open yet, they also offer drop-in tours at the distillery. For those who want more than a bottle, access to the production floor is refreshingly uncomplicated. "Our rule of thumb is if there's a car out front, we're open for a tour. We like people to see the process of how we produce whiskey," Declan says. It's an old-school, open-door philosophy that a lot of larger producers have long since abandoned in favor of ticketed experiences and reservation systems.
Colorado's Growing Single Malt Scene
Rick Thomas doesn't exist in a vacuum. Colorado has become one of the most fertile grounds in the country for American single malt whiskey, a category that only received its official federal standards of identity in 2024. The state's agricultural diversity, high-altitude climate, and strong craft spirits culture have attracted a cluster of ambitious distillers chasing world-class malt.
"Colorado's got a vibrant whiskey industry, and I think being a little bit more unique in our equipment, there's room in that marketplace for the flavors that Declan's getting," says Brian. The senior Watts isn't wrong. Colorado's whiskey scene has produced genuinely competitive spirits — Root Shoot Spirits, for instance, was named Whisky of the Year at the London Spirits Competition and was also awarded American Single Malt Whiskey of the Year and Spirit of the Year U.S.A. — and the category nationally continues to draw comparisons to the early days of American craft bourbon, when a handful of pioneers established a template that others eventually followed.
Rick Thomas is betting that a Scottish-style pot still, combined with Rocky Mountain terroir and obsessive sourcing from Colorado farmland, can produce a single malt that earns its place on the shelf next to both domestic craft competitors and imported Scotch. The early evidence suggests that bet isn't a long shot.
What's Next: Bourbon, Rye, and a Longer Game
The single malt release is just the first door opening. After producing hundreds of barrels of corn whiskey, single malt, and bourbon, the distillery has more recently begun distilling rye whiskey. Rye has been the most difficult of all the products to date. Rye's high beta-glucan content makes it notoriously sticky and difficult to work with on the production floor, but the resulting spirit — spicy, herbal, complex — has driven a wholesale revival of interest in rye-forward American whiskeys over the past decade.
The rye won't be ready for some time yet. As Brian noted, if it wasn't so tasty, they might give up — but first barrels are already laid down to sleep for a few years. That patience is telling. A distillery willing to wait on a difficult grain rather than rush something to market is a distillery that understands what it's doing.
The broader spirit lineup planned for Rick Thomas is substantial. Beyond the malt whiskey, bourbon, and rye, the distillery has flagged blue bourbon and blue corn whiskey as future expressions — niche products that would meaningfully distinguish the brand in any competitive market. Blue corn expressions have gained a small but devoted following in craft spirits circles, particularly in the Southwest, where the grain has deep agricultural and cultural roots.
Master Distiller Declan Watts didn't arrive at this job without preparation. Watts attended Colorado State University and spent time abroad in Scotland studying with different distillers that precede American distillers by hundreds of years. That first-hand education in Scottish distilling — not just reading about pot stills but actually working alongside people who have been running them for generations — translates into a technical foundation that most American craft distillers simply don't have access to.
A Town, a Legacy, and a Very Long View
Black Hawk has always been a town built around speculation — first gold, then gambling. Rick Thomas Distillery represents something different: a multigenerational bet on craft, place, and patience. Though prohibition-era bootlegging is long gone, Black Hawk seeks to remember its rich history by reviving the tradition of distilling, with the Rick Thomas Distillery setting a high precedent for the artisans that will follow.
John H. Gregory first discovered gold in Black Hawk, CO in 1859. Dubbed "the richest square mile on earth," this former mining camp became the home of Rick Thomas Distillery in 2023. The name on their 1859 label — used for the corn whiskey and vodka already in market — deliberately connects the distillery's commercial identity to that founding moment in the town's history. It's not nostalgia for its own sake; it's a declaration that what they're making here belongs to this place in the same way that gold belonged to the creek beds below.
For American whiskey drinkers, the Rick Thomas story offers something worth paying attention to: a family-owned operation that spent years building the right infrastructure, sourcing the right grain, investing in the right equipment, and simply waiting until the whiskey was ready. No shortcuts, no young spirit dressed up with heavy wood chips, no age statement padding. Just eight barrels of Scottish-style single malt, distilled at altitude, slowly cut to 48% ABV, and poured into a glass in the mountains above the town where gold was once found in the ground. Whether or not this first batch becomes the stuff of legend, the foundation being laid in Black Hawk is the kind that serious whiskey tends to grow from.
