Stone Ruination IPA

My first taste of this hoppy monster was months after it's first release, back in the fall of 2002. I was in Portland, Oregon for a wedding, and was amazed by the quantity and quality of the craft beer to found there. Every place I went, and every function I attended, there was always good beer, and sometimes nothin' but, no Bud Lights or Heinekens thrown in there, just Deschutes, and Rogue, New Belgium, and all the usual suspects. And some unusual. Dead Guy was at the wedding reception, and the after-party was BYOB. But there was a gas station down the street, with an excellent selection. Not only couldn't you find most of these beers in Minnesota then, but you certainly couldn't find anything good(and still can't) at a gas station, midnight on a Saturday. I picked up more beer than we needed, 2 6-packs, and 2 Stone bombers, Arrogant Bastard, and Ruination Ale. It ruined me.
I got several other Stones to bring home from the trip, the Imperial Russian Stout, and Old Guardian Barley-wine.
It wasn't until January of 2004 that I tried it again, having acquired it in trade with a Californian. Now we finally have it here, and I tapped my first keg tonight. Here are those 7 year old notes, from that second sampling:

Beautiful, bright orange color...fine, 1/2", bubbly head.
Aroma: Big, bad, gorgeous hoppiness, fruit aplenty, some grapefruit, yeah, but peach, orange, tangerine, non-stop, glorious hops...so sweet, so utterly pleasant, abundantly delightful. Bright, luscious, lively...all bow in honor of the almightiness of humulus lupus!
Shall we sip? Do we dare?
Full force of hops on the palate, a devastating wave of hops across the palate up, over, around, about, and above the senses! Dominant to say the least, absolutely overpowering and spreading nothing but delight to those of us hopheads who revel in the luxury of an immersion of such bitter, tasty delights!
Each time you put down the glass, and finish your gulp, the flavor subsides on the palate, resides fully in the senses, and you eye that glass and are eager for more. You don't need it, for the flavor has never left your senses, but it tempts, it teases....like the label says, it ruins you for anything of weaker flavor, and why would you ever want that, anyway?
Fantastically delicious, this super-hopped ale, one I'd return to as often as I could, when fortune provides. This is the IPA that should be the emblem, the acme, the standard any IPA should strive for!"