Five Things You Don’t Know About Us: Restless Spirits® Distilling Company’s Mike and Benay Shannon

From the time Restless Spirits® Distilling Company first opened its distillery in North Kansas City four years ago, they’ve been creating award-winning, unique Irish- and American-inspired spirits.


Besides proudly being served at Kauffman Stadium, the company was recently named the Official Gin of the Boston Red Sox. Oh, and their Duffy’s Run Vodka was named one of the Top 10 Vodkas in the United States by USA Today’s Best 10. Clearly, they’re on a roll. Thus, we wanted to learn five things about owners Mike and Benay Shannon. We’ll raise a glass to that!


5) Benay: “I’m a self-taught distiller and I make all of our spirits myself, right here in Kansas City. That shouldn’t be too surprising because before we started Restless Spirits, I was a high school science teacher at Park Hill South. Every time I tell that story, people say I remind them of the Breaking Bad story except that what I do is 100 percent legal!”


4) Benay: “The inspiration for Builders® Gin stemmed from my lifelong distaste for gin. Experimentation is my favorite part of distilling, so creating a gin that makes a gin drinker out of everyone was one of my favorite projects. The distillation of botanicals is an incredible process yielding the best flavors of Builders®.”

3) Mike: “My family, the Shannons, identified as “Rabbits” upon arrival in America from Ireland, aligning with local political boss Joseph Shannon. We wanted to pay homage to the first Shannons in Kansas City, so we consistently use the symbol of the rabbit on all the spirit labels and marketing materials.”


2) Owner Mike Shannon graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in music. He and Benay met through their love of music, and today their family remains gifted with musical talent! Mike and their son, Patrick, both play the saxophone. Benay plays piano and oboe. And their daughter, Brenna, plays the clarinet. “We used to joke and call ourselves the VonShannon family band!” says Mike.


1) The official vehicle of Restless Spirits—the Restless Paddywagon—is a vintage, restored mail truck from the end of World War II, complete with a whiskey snug and “emergency” gin reserves! Don’t let it fool you though, it has a fully functioning train locomotive horn installed, which catches bystanders off guard with a big ol’ toot!

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