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Back in the summer of 2025, I was given the opportunity to host a bourbon tasting at local Indianapolis landmark St Elmo Steak House. During it, I guided the audience through a tasting of all 5 core offerings of their new “Rare Saint” line of whiskies including the bottle you see before you. I did not own my own bottle of “Trinity of Port” just yet, but having a chance to re-taste it at the event reminded me I needed to buy one. So right after the event finished, I purchased my own. That’s probably a pretty big clue in how this review will go.
Rare Saint “Trinity of Port”
In previous reviews of Rare Saint whiskies, I talked about how the team at Huse Culinary (the company that owns St Elmo) has been sourcing barrels from MGP for their ryed bourbon, wheated bourbon and rye whiskey lines. At first, I thought that “Trinity of Port” was going to use one of those three whiskies to finish in Port Wine casks. It turns out that’s nowhere even close to what happens. What they’ve done is sourced four other kinds of whiskey from MGP and blend them all together. Which whiskies were they? Glad you asked:
- Corn Whiskey (likely the 81/15/4 mash bill)
- Rye Whiskey (I’ve been told it’s the 51% rye whiskey mash bill, but wasn’t told if it’s 51/45/4 or 51/49)
- Wheat Whiskey (95/5 mash bill)
- Malt Whiskey (100% malted barley mash bill)
Somehow the Huse Culinary team actually got all of these whiskies to play nice with each other. But even overcoming the odds wouldn’t be enough for them – they decided to finish it in three different varieties of Port. This is great because sometimes I can’t decide if I’m in the mood for a Tawny Port finish – with its nutty, rancio flavors – or a Ruby Port Finish – with it’s fresh and fruity flavor profile. I won’t say I’m overly familiar with “White” Port (which gets its name because it’s made with white grapes), but the last time I had a whiskey finished in that cask I found it to be somewhat dry.
These three Port types form the “Trinity” that Rare Saint used for the name of this bottle. After the blend was finished for 6 months, it was dumped and blended back together to form small batches. The batch I’m reviewing today is “T1” which came in at 115.7 proof and had a total outturn of 834 bottles. So how is it? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Sweet scents of dates, cinnamon rolls and caramel greet my nose with each sniff. I begin to detect other aromas that I believe are more in line with the Port finish (and maybe some of the malt whiskey) such as chocolate covered raisins, sweet wine and raspberry jam. This is right up my alley!
Palate: I can taste some of the rye and rye spice flavors (pine needles, herbs)poking through each sip. But laying on top of that is a strong wine influence coupled with chocolate, red fruits, dehydrated fruits, (dry) oak and a good helping of baking spices (cinnamon, allspice, clove). In my opinion, the White Port and the Ruby Port stand out the most by giving contrasting dryness and fruitiness.
Finish: A pleasantly strong finish on my tongue with lots of spice. There’s a fairly “woody” kind of oak that sticks to my cheeks along with tobacco leaf and cork. I find cherries and dark red wine, which I fully expected. The one semi-unexpected note is a nuttiness at the end like roasted almonds/pecans.
Score: 8/10
You’d think the big story about this dram would be the impact of the Port Wine Casks, but I found the even bigger story to be how well the blended whiskies played with each other. I was already a believer of blending different whiskey types (like Bourye), but achieving such balance through a blend like this is no easy task. The only times I’ve seen it pulled off with this much precision is probably with Barrell Craft Spirits’ Infinite Blend or maybe High West’s Campfire. I guarantee if the base blend was not good, it wouldn’t matter how good those Port Casks were, it would show through on the final product.
Instead, there’s something for everyone when it comes to the flavors you like best in a whiskey and the flavors you like best in a wine. This is a jack of all trades and is bursting with flavor. I also want to compliment the blending crew for their restraint when it came to finishing strength – I didn’t find the Port coming across too sweet (which is common in these kind of finishes). Instead, it imparted the perfect amount of sweetness, fruit, rancio, acidity and tannins.
Final Thoughts
I’m going to be honest, the pricetag of $80 may cause some hesitation when you see it on the shelf. But I find this to be of a quality and proof that bests some of its immediate competitors. Angel’s Envy Private Barrels may be the most obvious competitor, but they’re about $20 more than Rare Saint. I also found the AE to be so heavily finished that I could only taste the Port and nothing else. Maybe I’d also compare it to one of Yellowstone’s LEs which will also set you back $100. Sure you’ll get a little bit more age and an array of weird finishing casks, but those are only 101 proof. There’s also High West’s eclectic “cask strength single barrel” selections which are close in price, but I’ve yet to taste a finishing cask they offer with as much depth of flavor as the Trinity of Port has to offer.
When I sit back and savor what this bottle has to offer, I’d consider it one of my top finished whiskies for any enthusiasts to buy in 2026.
