This is a departure from the typical American IIPA, but it is a nice interpretation on the style, though it needs more carbonation. The bittering hops are sufficient, but the flavouring and aroma is left to the malt, which is a common strategy for stout, but not for IIPA.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9969/59622A: amber, cloudy
S: pine, licorice, caramel
T: suitably bitter, then lots of malt, spice, and pine, almost minty
M: smooth, good body, maybe a bit thin. Very little head retention.
D: this does not taste like 9% at all, very drinkable
Overall, I'm glad I tried this, and I'll probably buy it again, but not very often.
In exploring other malt-forward expressions of IPA, I reccomend trying "Frye's Leap" IPA by Sebago.
