New Kansas City bar is built on an unusual combination: wine and bourbon
Husband and wife Howard Turley and Laura Turley have opened a new type of bar in Kansas City — one that pairs bourbon and wine.
But it’s not a place to feel intimidated if bourbon isn’t your forte.
Nestled in Waldo at 404 W. 75th St., Audrey’s Wine and Bourbon offers a select variety of top shelf wine and bourbon and teach patrons how to drink them together, something the couple discovered during the pandemic.
Laura Turley remembers sitting in their living room, bored, when her husband — like many others — decided to try something new. Howard Turley asked his wife if she wanted a little bourbon on the side of her wine.
“We started tasting it back and forth, and we were like this is interesting. Different notes, different flavors, different thoughts,” said Howard Turley. “We started doing all sorts of wines, all sorts of whiskeys, all sorts of bourbons, and we just kept elaborating on it.”
Audrey’s Wine and Bourbon is celebrating its grand opening this week, after years of them expanding their personal palate, making pairings and looking for a location. It’s all culminated an intentional menu with cocktails, wines, bourbons and pre-selected flight options for tastings (that come with chocolate truffles).
“We are by no means experts. That’s what we tell everybody you like what you like, it makes you an aficionado automatically,” Howard Turley said.
The Turleys chose the liquors with the intention of building a relationship with the winemakers and distillers and showcasing several women-led and international distilleries to introduce to patrons. During the soft opening, plenty of curious Waldo residents came to try this new idea.
“People are doing it, they’re loving it,” Howard Turley said about the patrons who came during the soft opening. “They’re like, ‘I would’ve never thought of doing that, why would I do that?’ And I’m like, because it’s good.”
How to taste wine and bourbon together
The tasting process created by Howard and Laura Turley is pretty straightforward: one sip of wine, two of bourbon and another sip of wine.
“So here’s the beauty of it,” said Howard Turley. “So the bourbons, yeah, they can be tough by themselves, but the beauty of the wines is you can go back and forth. So after you take that sip of bourbon, it might burn a little bit. You take a little sip of wine, and it softens it and getting all these different notes.”
You start by sipping a glass of wine like normal before taking the first sip of a 0.5-ounce pour of bourbon. That bourbon is swished around the mouth like mouthwash. The drinker is instructed to breathe in and out through the nose before swallowing.
The process takes away the initial punch-in-the-face burn and alcohol intensity some people experience while sipping bourbon for the first time. Instead, the liquor is mellow and smooth, leaving behind a numbing and almost pop rocks sensation throughout the mouth.
Next comes another sip of bourbon — this time a normal sip. There isn’t an overwhelming kick or burn this time, although some people, according to Laura Turley, can feel warmth in their throat or their collarbone.
After the second sip of bourbon comes the second sip of wine, which this time is a lot more complex, with some of the earthy and smokey flavors of the bourbon sweeping into the wine profile.
“We’re just having fun introducing people to a whole new world,” she said.
What wines and bourbons can be found at Audrey’s in Waldo?
The liquor shelves at Audrey’s Wine and Bourbon aren’t stacked. The Turleys have been very intentional in their selection, only providing top-shelf bourbons, many of which have a deep history or folklore that the Turleys share with patrons.
That means no Jack Daniel’s, Buffalo Trace or Marker’s Mark here. Audrey’s provides a smaller selection of wine with the intention of knowing the product deeply and having the freedom to change up the lineup.
The name Audrey’s comes from their oldest granddaughter, Audrey (and also an homage to Audrey Hepburn).
There is also a menu of select cocktails — one even named after their youngest granddaughter, Lilliana, called Lili’s Sweet Bite (flirty Appletini with vodka, apple pucker, apple brandy, splash of sweet and sour and garnished with a fresh apple slice).
Further in the menu book is a selection of wine, bourbon and then a flight menu, including flight options. Patrons can choose from one of the various pre-set pairings or pick their own way.
A flight comes with one 5 ounce glass of wine and three 0.5 ounce bourbons. The prices for the pairings range from $23 to $30 and vary by the cost of the wine or the selection of bourbon.
“We’ve got great wines, great bourbons, all at decent prices. We’re not that five times markup. Like some places are, we’re really trying to do the wines reasonably,” Howard Turley said.
In their years of experimentation, the Turleys have found, in general, that heavier wines like cabernets and red zinfandels pair better with a higher proof bourbon, around 95% and up.
“The higher, the better for me,” Howard Turley said, laughing.
They’ve also found pairings with white wines like chardonnays and sauvignon blancs. The Akashi White Oak Japanese Whisky for example, pairs cleanly with their white wine selection, according to Howard Turley.
“When you’re drinking white wine, the wheat bourbons are awesome because they’re clean, they’re soft, they don’t burn as bad, unlike with a heavy red, you might want a little more burn,” he said.
The bourbons come from all over, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Utah, Minnesota, California, internationally and even locally like Tom’s Town, Wood Hat and West Bottoms Whiskey Co.
“Putting this together took me a lot of time, just to think about the wines that I wanted to offer, the reds and the whites and what bourbons would go best with those,” Howard Turley said.
Why pick Waldo to open a bourbon and wine bar?
The Turleys found the location last October, blocks away from their other business, 75th Street Events. They live in Waldo, so it felt natural for them to open their second entrepreneurial venture in the neighborhood as well.
“It’s a different kind of lounge right here in Waldo,” said Laura Turley. “We have some great friends around us, other bars, but if you want to be able to talk to your loved one or talk to your friend, the music’s not blaring. It’s just calm. It’s just a different vibe.”
There are no TVs in Audrey’s. Most of the room is black, except a couple of orange couches which slightly brighten the space and large windows facing 75th Street. The space conveys a moody, intimate and cozy feel to it.
Most nights there will be early 1900s swing music in the background, and other nights there will be live music emanating the same vibe. The plan is for there still be the ability to foster conversations with music as the backdrop.
Laura Turley and Howard Turley have already seen a natural buildup of community in the business during the soft opening. Patrons weren’t afraid to sit next to strangers and exchange notes on their pairing experience. The Turleys walk through the bar, checking in with people and walking them through the tasting as needed.
“We weren’t bourbon drinkers either, you slowly get into it,” Laura Turley said. “It’s just like wine. We all drink that sweet wine and then we slowly move up to red stuff. It’s the same thing, you start small and just try it a little bit and then before you know it, your palate starts changing and stuff.”
After trying the pairing experience, Howard Turley said, people have been walking out promising to return with others.
“When people have left, they’re like, ‘This was fantastic, I never would’ve thought it, we’re coming back, we’re bringing more friends, we’re gonna bring our boyfriends, we’re gonna bring our girlfriends,’” he said.
Audrey’s will be having several live music events this week to celebrate their grand opening. They are open Wednesday through Thursday from 4 to 10:30 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
