As expected with any new Linux kernel release, Arne Exton forks it for distribution across all of its supported Linux-based operating systems. The first one to ship with the final Linux 4.9 kernel was ExTiX 17.0, but it looks like you can also install this custom kernel on various Ubuntu or Debian-based distros, including Linux Mint. According to the developer, you can install and use his custom Linux 4.9 kernel, which appears to have been compiled only for 64-bit systems, on Debian GNU/Linux 8.6 “Jessie,” Debian GNU/Linux 9 “Stretch” (a.k.a. Debian Testing), Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.10, Linux Mint 18, and recently released Linux Mint 18.1.