Here's What's New With K&L - Our Top Ten, Scotch Bundles & Cellar-Worthy Treasures

September brings another packed lineup of news and offers from K&L: our Top Ten Picks of the month, a tariff update and what it means for our customers, the much-anticipated 2020 Brunello arrivals, a standout Compass Box three-pack, and new Discovery Series arrivals. Here’s everything you’ll want to know this month.

• Our Top Ten Picks for September
• Tariff Update: Navigating a New Reality with the Same Values
• The Magnificent 2020 Brunello Vintage Has Landed
• A Startling Scotch Value: Compass Box Limited Edition Three Pack
• K&L Discovery Series: New and Exciting Arrivals
• Kentucky Distilleries: Stories in Every Barrel

Our monthly Top Ten represents our finest offerings that we believe deliver the absolute best character and style for their prices. No matter your tastes, preferences, or budget, you'll find something to capture your interest and take your wine and spirits experience to a new level.

There are times in this business when the ground shifts under your feet. Some changes are seasonal—tied to harvests, vintages, or evolving tastes. Others arrive with more permanence. The introduction of new tariffs on imported wine and spirits is one of those moments.

For those of us deeply embedded in the rhythm of global trade, this isn’t abstract policy—it’s lived experience. It touches everything: the winemaker who barrels something special with export in mind; the importer planning a pricing structure around historical norms; the customer who makes an early commitment based on trust in the system. When any part of that chain gets disrupted, we all feel it.

While our terms and conditions state that customers are liable for tariff differences between order and arrival, we’ve made a conscious choice to handle things differently. For months now, we’ve quietly absorbed those costs—well into the six figures—on behalf of our customers. Not because it was easy. Because we believe our long-term relationships are worth far more than a tariff bill. The wines were purchased in good faith, and our responsibility—even in moments like this—is to deliver with integrity. Keep reading here.

The 2020 vintage in Montalcino is already being hailed as one of the greats—wines of depth, polish, and age-worthiness that will stand among the benchmarks of the decade. From icons like Fuligni, Baricci, and Casanova di Neri to collectible single-vineyard bottlings such as Montosoli, these releases combine pedigree and critical acclaim with sharp pricing. With scores soaring into the high 90s and availability already tightening, now is the moment to secure these cellar-worthy treasures. Shop all 2020 Brunello here.

This Bundle Includes: Compass Box Bespoke Culver & Sepulveda + 5th & Harrison + Secrets of Smoke Limited Edition Pack (3x700ml) (Previously $500) ($380.00)

• Compass Box K&L Exclusive Culver & Sepulveda (700ml) — Retail $189.99
• Compass Box K&L Exclusive 5th & Harrison (700ml) — Retail $189.99
• Compass Box Secrets of Smoke (700ml, 2024 Limited Edition) — Retail $139.99

This deal is truly exceptional. There are still remarkable finds if you know how to ask. This pack represents nearly $120 in value and is the only way to secure a bottle of the final 5th & Harrison on the market today.

Alongside our custom-blended Compass Box duo, one of the most epic collaborations in our history you’ll, you'll receive Compass Box’s Secrets of Smoke—a 2024 limited-edition blended malt that challenges assumptions about peated Scotch by revealing layers of fruit and sweetness beneath the smoke. Bottled at 52% ABV, with natural color and no chill-filtration, it features parcels from Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Bowmore, and Ardmore.

A portion of The Peat Monster finished in Spanish red wine casks contributes nutty smoke and bright cherry notes, while recharred American oak parcels add charred herbs, pineapple, and leather. Crafted by former lead whiskymaker James Saxon.

Pair it with a bottle of Culver & Sepulveda—the famous blend of old Bowmore, Caol Ila, and sherried Glendullan that forms the backbone of 5th & Harrison—and you’ve got one outstanding deal.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of discovering a wine that punches well above its weight—when structure, provenance, and vintage align to deliver something far greater than the price suggests. At K&L, we live for those moments. And now, we’re excited to unveil a wave of new arrivals that capture that exact spirit: welcome to the latest chapter in our portfolio, the Discovery Series.

The newest release just landed this past week: the 2019 K&L Discovery Series Bordeaux, Pomerol ($24.99; Elsewhere $50)—a plush, Merlot-driven gem from one of Bordeaux’s most revered appellations. It joins a lineup of hand-picked selections designed to overdeliver, including the 2019 Pauillac ($29.99; Elsewhere $50), offering graphite-laced cassis and Left Bank precision; and two aged Right Bank bottlings—the 2005 ($19.99) and 2009 ($14.99) St-Emilion—extraordinary finds from two of the region’s most celebrated vintages.

These latest additions represent more than just great deals—they're the embodiment of our commitment to offering wines with authenticity, pedigree, and soul, all at prices that invite discovery. The Discovery Series and our suite of K&L exclusive brands are built on this promise—and this is just the beginning. Learn more about the Discovery Series and our exciting upcoming releases On the Trail.

Kentucky’s state motto, “Unbridled Spirit,” is striking in its accuracy. It captures both the personality of its people and the amber liquid that puts the state on the map: bourbon whiskey.

I moved to Louisville over 12 years ago. My first job was at a downtown whiskey bar where every shift felt like a crash course in America’s native spirit. The more I learned—about the family dynasties, the folklore, the oddities of maturation—the more I wanted to know. Inevitably, my thirst (literal and figurative) for bourbon spilled over into the world of distillery tours.

Some folks tell you, “If you’ve seen one distillery, you’ve seen them all.” I, for one, couldn’t disagree more. The equipment may look similar, but each place has its own heartbeat. The first time I drove to Four Roses, the sunny, Spanish mission-style buildings made me think I’d taken a wrong turn into California.

At Heaven Hill in Bardstown, you might spot company president Max Shapira quietly eating lunch in the employee cafeteria, an unexpected reminder that it’s still a family business. At Wild Turkey, after strolling across the long railroad bridge that spans the river in Lawrenceburg, you might meet Jimmy Russell—over sixty years on the job and still grinning—giving you a brief encounter with bourbon royalty. Keep reading here.