You would love this beer than! Heat, nope... If you look it up, it is one of the highest rated barrel aged beers out there and for good reason. It is that good and like you mentioned, it is perfectly balanced and as it starts to warm up, the full flavor really shines! I have had several high ABV's where it is exactly what you mentioned... it is nothing but harsh hard alcohol being delivered via beer. Not good.
Another one, which is even higher and boy is it freaking amazing IMHO, is Sam Adams Utopia. I have been able to try it twice now and each time it did not disappoint. Is it strong, oh heck yeah. Clocks in at 28%... do you taste the hard alcohol... a little. Is it balanced and tasty... yup! It is another one that is able to perfectly blend the harshness, my description, of the hard alcohol with the subtleness of a full flavored and extremely complex beer. Perfect in my book. So far these two beers, given how high they are in the ABV range, are my two favorite. I have had a few beers that are around the 13-16% range that are just as good... while on the flip side, I have had several that i wouldn't look at again, let alone drink.
