Some stories begin with horsepower. Others with craftsmanship. Shelby Vodka carries both.
In 2023, End of Days Distillery founder and master distiller Shane Faulkner brought his award-winning North Carolina spirits to Berlin for International Cocktail Week. Late-night conversations turned into introductions, and soon the team was speaking with Shelby American about a collaboration that could translate a performance legacy into a premium spirit. The brief was clear: capture the precision, power, and timeless character associated with Carroll Shelby’s name and do it with the discipline of a race program.
The result is Shelby Vodka, an ultra-premium expression distilled seven times for clarity and a clean, polished finish. The flavor profile is deliberately versatile: crisp on the first sip, smooth through the mid-palate, and composed on the finish. It stands up neat, shines over a single large cube, and holds its line in classic cocktails where lesser vodkas fade. Think of it as a spirit built for repeatability—each pour delivers the same confident balance you expect from a well-sorted machine.
Photos by @mattrayphotography
A Bottle Worth Collecting
Design matters, and the bottle treats presentation like an engineering exercise. A metal die-cast Shelby Cobra emblem anchors the face. Carroll Shelby’s signature runs across the reverse as a seal of authenticity. Blue racing stripes streak the glass with a familiar sense of motion. Limited to 10,000 bottles worldwide, the package reads like a collector’s piece without sacrificing practicality behind a bar. In a display case or on a credenza, it looks right at home alongside scale models, driving gloves, and the keys to something loud.
Celebrating the Launch
The launch over Memorial Day weekend in 2025 drew immediate interest from enthusiasts and spirits aficionados. A follow-on appearance at Motorlux in Monterey placed Shelby Vodka in front of a discerning crowd during Car Week—an audience fluent in design details, materials, and story. The response rewarded the team’s approach: a serious distillate, presented with respect for the brand that inspired it.
Distilled for Performance
Behind the scenes, End of Days Distillery applies the same mindset that propels a top-flight race effort. Grain selection is tight. Proofing is measured. Filtration and final blending are handled with patience rather than shortcuts.
Shelby Vodka fits naturally into a luxury lifestyle built around considered choices. Pair it with caviar before a late dinner, pour it long with soda and a citrus twist after a coastal drive, or set two chilled glasses on a low table while friends drift between the garage and the terrace. The common thread is a preference for objects with substance—things designed to look good, work properly, and last.
For Faulkner and the End of Days team, the collaboration represents a meeting of disciplines: high-touch distilling and high-performance engineering. The outcome respects Shelby’s heritage while adding a new chapter to it—one that belongs on the bar as confidently as a fastback belongs in the morning light. Shelby Vodka raises a glass to standards that never go out of style.
