Not A Wallop of Hops

I had Victory's Hop Wallop for the first time just under a year ago. It was so good I dubbed it my favorite double IPA and gave it a rating of 4.75 out of 5. Since then I've discovered a wide array of amazing hoppy beers all of which I'm sorry to say completely outshine Hop Wallop. Maybe that bottle I had last year really was that good and the bottle I drank tonight was handled poorly... I don't know. The notes I had last year were an intense aroma of piney, resiny hops along with a bubblegum-like sweetness. This year I had to search for the hops. Yeah they were there, more along the lines of earthy- like some English hops maybe, but it didn't sear my nose hairs off like last year. And no bubblegum, it was more of a pilsner-type pale malt background. Last year's taste was pretty amazing too, delivering an aggressively unbalanced (which I loved) hoppiness. Today it was more like a nice earthy hoppiness with a sweet malty counterpart. Nothing bad about the taste, just not what I loved the last time I had it. None of the 8.5% ABV really peaks through though it may contribute to the slick mouthfeel. I would give this bottle a 3.75 and pray next year's is better.