In 2022, the famed Swedish Närke brewery reprised its famed cognac barrel aged version of Stormaktsporter, which they created once for the 15th anniversary of the legendary Stockholm beer bar Akkurat - but 'amplified' the original to a whopping 13.4% ABV. This bottle has been lurking around in the crevices of my beer stash for almost two years now, but an ice cold evening in early January, just a few days before my birthday, seems like an appropriate enough occasion to open it, hoping to get a glimpse of the original which I missed out on all those years ago. Medium sized, regular, densely moussey to creamy, sparsely lacing, greyish deep beige head slowly opening and in the end dissolving on a jet black robe. Intense bouquet of unsugared bitter chocolate, oak logs with a touch of vanilla, high quality espresso, salmiak or even 'drop', indeed clear cognac but less overwhelming than expected, whisky somehow too, black toast, Cuban cigars, roasted beech nuts, dry caramel, charred cedar wood, wet leather, black peppercorns, porcini, mocha, cinnamon, hints of wet clay, juniper berries, gin and fresh bayleaves. Dense, sweetish onset, lots of old black raisins, dried fig and dried pear, the sweetness tempered by a porcini-like umami effect that does not become too 'beefy'; hot alcohol stings are noticeable early on but otherwise behave quite well, while carbonation is a tad on the stingy side, though no match for the full 'massiveness' of the piled up layers of bittersweet malts, offering the full range of dry caramel, black chocolate, burnt toast and ristretto coffee - altogether quite roasty and bitter, but backed with enough sweetness to avoid a sharp 'ashiness'. Aspects of high quality cigar tobacco, salmiak, juniper and bayleaf appear in the finish, while this bitter roastiness fills the mouth, heated by the cognac - the latter also adding a degree of vinosity and (dark) fruitiness, even if it ends up less sweet than I was expecting. The oak barrels deposit considerable tannic woodiness and background vanillin aromas as expected, together with the roastiness establishing a deep, dark, warming effect, like a big log of oak wood in a roaring fireplace; herbal hops support the roasted bitterness in the background. The brandy booziness, though considerable and very 'palpable', has a peppery and hot effect to it without becoming unpleasantly wry - a true 'tour de force' in such a strong beer, though of course the sheer thickness of the dark malts absorb a lot of it. Generally speaking, this is one of those high profile postmodern 'impies' impressing with their (in the best examples) brilliant combo of vigour and elegance, clearly influenced by early 21st century U.S. tendencies; more specifically, it is an impressive addition to the still - dropwise - growing range of Närke's Stormaktsporters, some of which belong to the best beers I ever had. That said, I was expecting this one to be the very best Stormaktsporter variant for me so far, but its sheer alcohol content prevented this; I think it would have been a better idea to replicate the original, less strong recipe - thus, at the same time, offering the geeks that missed it (like myself) a chance to catch up on it. For me, 13.4% ABV is just a bit too much and the alcohol heat just creeps into the wonderful features of the legendary base beer a tad too strongly - but make no mistake, this is still a formidable imperial porter / stout in a range justly recognised as one of the best in the world when it comes to this particular segment.