News Archive
IU McKinney Alumni-Owned Distillery Creates Hand Cleaner
03/16/2020
Hotel Tango Artisan Distillery, founded by IU McKinnney grad Travis Barnes, '13, his wife, Hilary Barnes, and 2013 classmates Nabeela Virjee, Adam Willfond, and Brian Willsey has created a new hand cleaner for people to use.
The product is 68 percent alcohol-based and is made in a quarantined area separate from other business operations, according to a story that aired recently on WISH-TV. CEO Barnes said the idea came from an employee in the company amid a shortage for hand sanitizers.
“If we can help pitch in and help be a little part of a solution right now,” Barnes told WISH-TV. “That’s what we’re trying to be, part of the community and part of the solution.”
The cleaner is currently not available for retail sales, but charitable organizations can request shipments of it. Customers can also use the cleaner at the distillery.
The team started the business during their third year of law school at IU McKinney. Hotel Tango is the first disabled combat veteran owned distillery in the state and in the nation. The business was founded the same year Indiana law changed and made craft distilling a viable business.
