Wild Hare Distillery, Tempe

The owners of Wild Hare Distillery, Jim Matz and Wendy Tilton, needed to do something challenging and different, and this is how the distillery came to be. They set up and experimented, including testing of new flavors and tastes. The spirit of testing continues when they ask their customers what they'd like to try.

As a test facility, Wild Hare Distillery is always looking for true alcohol lovers. They need participants who love tequila, whiskey, vodka, and rum. Quarterly, they conduct tastings to determine what products are worthy of release to the public. Volunteers can contact them anytime.

They also organize tours and tastings during which Wendy or Jim will talk about the process from the raw materials used to the finished product. They often are fully operational on the weekends, so customers can come prepared for a warehouse tour (it gets hot in the back). The tour is about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on questions (and, Wendy and Jim love questions).