Puns get a bad rap. Restless Spirits, for example, is a fantastically punny name for a distillery, with the “spirits” in question referring both to the liquor produced there and the souls of the folks who produce it.
That’s what founder Mike Shannon says. Sitting in the warm, inviting, high-ceilinged tasting room of his facility north of the river, Shannon says the name of his business came from a specific, deeply relatable human experience—namely, the existential pangs that strike some parents when their grown kids leave the nest.
“The name reflects a period of restlessness in our lives,” he says, describing how he and his wife, Benay, “got the kids graduated, out of school and moved on in their lives. And we were restless.”
At the time, Mike worked for Bic. “I was in consumer packaged goods branding,” he says. Benay was an educator. Both wanted something new. Both had, and still have, a passion for fine spirits. But they wanted to create something out of the ordinary.
“We didn’t want to be just another distillery,” Mike says. “It was really about: How do we differentiate? How are we going to do something that’s authentic to the Kansas City area?”
His own family, with their Irishness and deep roots in Kansas City, is ultimately where the Shannons found their inspiration.
And those roots, to be sure, do run deep. From 1867, when the Shannon family first came to KC to work on the transcontinental railroad, through the turbulent era of the Goats and Rabbits political rivalry, right down to 2016, when the distillery opened, the Shannons and Kansas City have been inexorably intertwined.
That shared history has been infused—pardon the pun—into every aspect of the distillery, be it historical photographs on the walls, product names or, most significantly for those who enjoy fine spirits, a profound reverence for time-honored Irish distillation techniques.
“We wanted to produce authentic, Irish-style spirits using traditional methods,” Mike says, noting the distillery’s dedication, for instance, to a proper 100% barley grain bill.
That approach has worked out for the Shannon family and discriminating tipplers alike. Restless Spirits has been named Missouri Distillery of the Year by the New York International Spirits Competition for 11 consecutive years—literally since its doors opened.
Mike is, it should be noted, quick to credit his wife, Benay, for this extraordinary success. A scientist at heart, Benay was studying molecular biology when the pair met at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Today, she serves as the operation’s master distiller, and, according to her beaming husband, “she’s just a gifted, gifted person.” He raves, admiration in his eyes, about her razor-sharp sensory perception, particularly her sense of taste and smell. “She has the ultimate say on product quality.”
That quality is evident in the distillery’s biggest and most surprising success. Ironically for a business so deeply Irish, the gin—a spirit far more associated with the hated English—is the company’s biggest seller.
That irony, however, doesn’t stop Mike from being proud. “Our very first year that we submitted Builders Gin, we got a gold medal,” he says. Specifically, Builders Botanical Gin won a Double Gold Medal at that same New York International Spirits Competition.
Rightly so. It’s heady, floral stuff with a strong emphasis on lavender and citrus and a deep, fiery finish. Restless Spirits has since built on its gin success, adding Builders Heritage Dry Gin and Builders Barrel-Finished to the portfolio.
None of these spirits—the gins, Irish-style whiskeys or Duffy’s Run vodka—are cheap to make or buy. That’s by design, Mike says.
“We are dedicated 100% absolutely to producing consistently superior quality products forever, until I take my last breath,” he says. That commitment, he believes, also helps to promote responsible drinking. “That’s why we make a premium product and target to a different type of individual.”
The distillery doesn’t make booze “that college kids are going to shoot on the weekend,” he says. “We are pretty active about telling people, even in our tasting room, you gotta be responsible.”
Mike views that sort of responsible drinking as a social good—a vehicle for connection and community. “Think about how many stories are in a bottle of whiskey,” he says with a chuckle, rhapsodizing about the camaraderie that comes at a wedding or reunion when fine spirits are shared.
For all the couple’s success, though, nothing is guaranteed. Competing with global beverage conglomerates is never easy, and new challenges arise all the time. During the pandemic, for instance, Restless Spirits had to shift production to making hand sanitizer just to stay afloat.
And who knows what the future might bring. Beverage industry reports suggest that younger adults are cutting back on alcohol consumption. Mike offers a prediction: He notes, with a wink, that the same folks who are reportedly drinking less are also putting off having children. “They’re also delaying starting families,” he says. “The minute they do that, they’ll drink heavily.”
And one day, when those kids have grown and left the nest, those parents might get a little restless themselves. Some might even start a distillery of their own.
