Hertog Jan Grand Prestige

Origin: Netherlands | Date: 2017 | ABV: 10% | On The Beer Nut: February 2009

If memory serves, it was literally the last day of 2017 when I picked this up in a supermarket in The Hague. The 2018s had already started appearing on the shelves so this was a last chance to get a 2017 into the stash. It's a mass-market beer from the world's biggest producer so I wasn't planning to age it long-term. Five and a bit years seems like a fair amount of time to check in with it.

Looking back on my review of a fresh one in 2009, it seemed quite a busy affair, all acetone and forest fruits. So it was a surprise that there's basically no aroma here, only minor hints of chocolate and raisins. The texture is very smooth, yet there's no heat, which is surprise given the strength.

If there were spiky higher-alcohol edges on this to begin with, they have all been planed off by time. The end result is a beautifully integrated palate of port and dark chocolate with flecks of vanilla, black cherry and cocoa. Black Forest gateau comes to mind. While it's not hot, it does have a warmth which I thoroughly enjoyed on this cold winter evening. It made me want to light the fire and sip slowly in front of it.

I genuinely expected this to be a mess so I'm delighted how it turned out. This is exactly what the stashing project was meant to bring out and I'll be buying more than one bottle of the next vintage I have the opportunity to collect.