Hi, guys & gals;

I'm pretty new to scotch. Until a month ago, the only scotch I'd
ever had was Chivas Regal. (And old Chivas at that; the bottle in my
cabinet is a 12 year left over from my parent's wedding... in 1974.) I
thought this was pretty good, but I still prefered bourbon like Makers'
Mark.

Anyway, my friend is also a big fan of Whiskies, and so for Christmas
I bought him a bottle of Macallan 12. Originally I wanted to get him
some Lagavulin, as I'd read in several places that this was an
excellent drink. However, it was sold out all over town, and the local
importer told me that he wasn't sure if he'd ever get another bottle
because "the distillery burnt down".

We sipped a couple of shots of Mccallan over cigars, and wow -- I had
no idea scotch could be like that. Very, *very* tasty stuff. Very
smooth.

Eventually I found a bottle for a good price ($38) and bought one for
myself. But I've been looking for Lagavulin ever since.

Tonight I was in a local bar with some friends and noticed that --
holy cow -- they had a bottle of Lagavulin! (They also had a bottle of
the exorbantly expensive Macallan 25; next time my birthday rolls
around, I'm treating myself to a $30 shot of that goodness). I ordered
a shot of Lagavulin and... wow. I think this is one of the greatest
drinks I've ever tasted. Not only smooth, but with a very complex and
strong undercurrent of flavor and scent. Now I feel like I HAVE to get
a bottle.

Is the Lagavulin shortage going to end any time soon? From what I
read Googling Usenet, apparently this distillery fire is not the cause
of the problems; good ol' supply and demand is the cause of the
problems. I've told all of the local liquor importers to give me a
call if they can ever get a bottle in again, but I'm not holding my
breath. I haven't seen anything posted about it on Usenet in half a
year... does the Lagavulin shortage show any signs of letting up?
Thanks!

-R