Latest news with #Highland
Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The 8 Best Single Malt Scotch Whiskies Under $100 In 2025—Ranked By Experts
The eight finalists for the Best Single Malt Scotch under $100 category at the SFWSC. Sophia Lindenberger In a whisky world increasingly dominated by eye-popping price tags and flashy packaging, it's easy to forget that what really matters is the liquid in the bottle. Thankfully, the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) reminded us that you don't need to drop $300, or even $100, to score a fantastic bottle of premium whisky. Among the most exciting categories at this year's judging was the Best Single Malt Scotch Under $100. The eight finalists not only earned Double Gold medals, but also delivered exceptional quality at prices that are, frankly, a steal in today's inflated market. All these beauties offer deeply complex whiskies that highlight the distilling excellence of Scotland. From coastal peat monsters to rich sherry bombs to oak-kissed Highland elegance, each of these bottles offers something unique, and if you love a fantastic whisky that won't break your wallet, look no further. Region: Speyside | Price: $45 | Score: 98 pts Smooth, balanced, and endlessly drinkable, The Singleton 12 Year Old is the kind of whisky that reminds you why Speyside remains the heartbeat of Scotch. Distilled at the Dufftown distillery, it is matured in American and European oak, and it offers notes of baked apple, honeycomb, vanilla, and a touch of spice. There's no smoke here, no fireworks, just a clean, refined single malt that punches way above its price. This is a whisky that is perfect for both single malt novices and more experienced connoisseurs who are looking for an everyday sipper. At only $45, it's one of the best values in all of Scotch. The Glendronach Forgue 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Region: Highlands | Price: $60 | Score: 98 pts If you're a fan of sherry-matured malts, the Glendronach Forgue is a no-brainer. Rich and full-bodied, it offers a mélange of dried fruits, chocolate, orange peel, and baking spices. Since its founding in 1826, The Glendronach has focused on maturing its whiskies in sherry casks, and it has earned a legion of followers since. The Forgue 10 Year Old keeps the tradition alive with depth, character, and a silky finish that lingers far longer than its price suggests. Made exclusively for the brand's Travel Exclusive program, this whisky can only be found in duty-free stores in airports around the globe. Hence, it's excellent price. Grab one the next time you are jetting off, you won't be disappointed. Loch Lomond Inchmoan 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Region: Highlands | Price: $47 | Score: 98 pts Peat lovers, take note: this isn't your typical Islay smoke bomb. Inchmoan delivers a more restrained, herbal style of smoke, reminiscent of a smoldering campfire with hints of peat, backed by roasted coffee, vanilla, and clove. It's complex, surprising, and proof that peated Highland malts deserve a lot more attention. At under $50, this might be the most overlooked gem on the list. If you enjoy smoky whisky with nuance, you won't regret tracking this down. Highland Park 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Region: Orkney | Price: $59 | Score: 98 pts If you are a scotch lover, you are sure to have heard of Highland Park for good reason. For over 225 years, Highland Park has been crafting superb single-malt scotches that embrace the subtle smoky flavors of Orkney heathered peat. Their flagship 12-year-old is a masterclass in balance: gentle heather smoke, sweet malt, honey, and subtle sherry notes. It's elegant, approachable, and has enough complexity to keep seasoned drinkers engaged. For under $60, it's hard to find a more complete single malt. This is the kind of bottle that belongs in every whisky drinker's rotation. Alexander Murray & Co. Highland 14 Year Old Sherry Cask Single Malt Scotch Region: Highlands | Price: $70 | Score: 99 pts Founded twenty-one years ago, Alexander Murray & Co. specializes in independent bottling of select scotches. That means that they purchase casks of matured whisky directly from distillers and blend their whiskies. This approach allows them the leeway to move from different styles to produce exceptional bottlings. Aged 14 years, this Highland single malt had a second maturation in first-fill ex-sherry casks, creating a whisky brimming with dark fruit, leather, oak spice, and a velvety mouthfeel that screams luxury. At $70, it's pushing the top of the category, but the liquid more than justifies the price. This is premium scotch at a workingman's rate. Glengoyne White Oak Highland Single Malt Scotch Region: Highlands | Price: $60 | Score: 98 pts Since its founding in 1833, Glengoyne has prided itself on taking its time when distilling its scotches and never cutting corners. Their whiskies undergo the longest distillation of any Scottish whisky, creating a liquid famous for its sweet and fruity flavors. As a brand new expression for the venerable distillery, Glengoyne White Oak is matured exclusively in lightly charred First Fill Bourbon and Virgin White Oak casks. A non-age-stated release, it is a nonpeated whisky that is bright and clean. If you like your whisky elegant, balanced, and refreshingly straightforward, this one's for you. It's proof that great wood can do as much for a whisky as age or smoke. Glenglassaugh Portsoy Single Malt Scotch Region: Highlands | Price: $60 | Score: 99 pts Glenglassaugh may not be a household name, but Portsoy could change that. A coastal, heavily sherried malt with a smoky backbone, it combines all the classic flavors of an old school single malt with a modern sensibility. That's because the distillery was relaunched in 2023 after being dormant for over a decade. As one of the core offerings, Portsoy is aged in sherry, bourbon, and port casks to create a rich, full-bodied whisky. Tastes of dark chocolate, treacle, soy, and a salty tang that keeps your palate guessing with each sip. This is a whisky that feels wild and untamed—in the best way possible. For $60, it's one of the most characterful and exciting single malts you'll find anywhere. Loch Lomond Remarkable Alchemy Region: Highlands | Price: $55 | Score: 99 pts Obviously, the team at Loch Lomond is a friend of the working man since two of their whiskies made the finalist list at the SFWSC. This aptly named expression lives up to its billing. Crafted with Loch Lomond's experimental stills and matured in Colombian oak, it delivers waves of orchard fruit, spice, smoke, and toasted sugar. It's different. It's bold. And it's flat-out delicious. Made for its Global Travel program, this bottle is only available in select duty-free locations worldwide. At $55, this is boundary-pushing whisky for the curious drinker who wants something beyond the usual suspects. If you see a bottle on your next layover, snatch it up. The Bottom Line In a marketplace full of overpriced limited editions and collector's bait, these eight single malts remind us what whisky is about: craftsmanship, balance, and flavor. Each of these finalists earned its place on this list through merit, not marketing, and each delivers a drinking experience that far exceeds its price tag. So next time you're scanning the whisky aisle or scrolling online, skip the hype. Reach for one of these bottles. Your wallet and your taste buds will thank you. Follow here for the most up to date information about the ever changing beer, wine, and spirits industry. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Goose Island's 2025 Bourbon County Stout Lineup Focuses On The Tasting Experience By Hudson Lindenberger Forbes Tequila Vs Mezcal: A Guide To When And How To Drink Each By Hudson Lindenberger Forbes These Are The Best Bourbons Of 2025 (So Far), According To Spirits Competitions By Hudson Lindenberger
The National
2 days ago
- Business
- The National
Scottish distillery to release exclusive casks for 30th anniversary
Isle of Arran Distillers will be marking 30 years of the Lochranza Distillery by offering 30 limited edition new fill Palo Cortado sherry casks, filled exactly 30 years to the day after the very first cask was filled on August 15, 1995. Lochranza is one of Scotland's few remaining independent distilleries and is one of two in Arran alongside the newer Lagg distillery in the south of the island. READ MORE: World's oldest single malt whisky to be released by Highland firm Palo Cortado is described as an "exceptionally rare and coveted" sherry, known for its unique combination of Fino's delicate flor aging and Oloroso's oxidative depth. Each Palo Cortado cask will feature a unique, commemorative stencil which will stand out from all other casks to mark the anniversary. Stewart Bowman, Lochranza Distillery manager (Image: Isle of Arran Distillers) Euan Mitchell, managing director at Isle of Arran Distillers, said: 'As we celebrate 30 remarkable years since our very first spirit ran through the stills here in Lochranza, we're incredibly proud to remain independent, producing award-winning whiskies and inviting enthusiasts to be part of Arran's legacy. "This special cask offer is a wonderful and unique way to join us in marking this milestone.' The limited-edition anniversary casks will be filled on August 15 and are each priced at £7250. All purchases will include 10 years of insurance and storage. Stewart Bowman, Lochranza Distillery manager, added : 'We've just received these wonderful casks from Spain, and the quality of the wood is outstanding. "It's a real privilege to have such special casks in our warehouse. I'm genuinely excited to see how the classic Arran Single Malt flavours will evolve into a fine, complex, and truly exceptional dram.' You can visit Arran Whisky's website to register your interest in buying a cask and to find more information here.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Susan Dalgety: Tartan, fudge and cashmere – joys of living on the Royal Mile
Tourist shops on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Picture: Lisa Ferguson The Royal Mile is the ancient spine of Edinburgh, visited by five million tourists each year. The collective name for four streets that thread through the city's Old Town, it is home to a 900-year-old castle, a palace and a parliament. But the people who live there claim they are now seeing the overtourism problems being experienced across Europe. With tourists comes tourist shops, and BBC Scotland News walked the length of the Royal Mile to count up a total of 72 stores, selling everything from kilts to Highland cow fridge magnets. They are part of an industry that supports more than 40,000 jobs in Edinburgh. But locals say having so many similar shops in one place is symptomatic of the challenges that mass tourism brings. I have spent a good chunk of my adult life walking up and down the Royal Mile, whether as a councillor, a journalist on the Edinburgh Evening News or an adviser to politicians. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I know the High Street like the back of my hand and have observed its personality change over the decades. It has gone from a relatively quiet part of the city centre, except for the hordes who descended during festival time, to one of the busiest thoroughfares in the city. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, from a chilly February to a haar-laden October, the Royal Mile is busy with people from all over the world eager to enjoy our history and, it seems, buy endless amounts of holiday souvenirs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad BBC Scotland has counted 72 gift shops along the street selling everything from postcards to fudge. And of course, all things tartan. It may sound like overkill, but wander round any major city that attracts tourists and you will find just as many. My favourite city in Europe (apart from Edinburgh of course) is Athens, and its historic Plaka area is awash with gift shops. It is also the oldest part of the city, sitting snugly below the Parthenon and amid the shops selling worry beads, ouzo and evil eye charms are a myriad of ancient streets. The same goes for New York, where midtown Manhattan is a bazaar of NYC tat, from model yellow taxis to plastic Statues of Liberty. Locals may roll their eyes at the snow globes featuring the city's iconic skyline, but visitors love them. I have a lot of sympathy for those High Street residents who bemoan the dearth of 'normal' shops and services in their neighbourhood. It must be really frustrating to run out of bread and milk, only to find that your nearest shop sells cashmere gloves and fake sgian dubhs, but regrettably that is the price the city pays for attracting millions of visitors every year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Let's hope the revenue from the tourist tax which comes into force next year is used in part to support those neighbourhoods, like the Royal Mile, which have to play host to the city's tourists while the rest of us enjoy the economic benefits tourism brings.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Trump's trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 - its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. One Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course said that before Trump the area was nothing but featureless sand dunes and that his development, carved between those dunes, made the entire landscape look more attractive. Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes - and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house - without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons - mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter - of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark - you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
BALMEDIE, Scotland − Long before talk of hush-money payments, election subversion or mishandling classified documents, before his executive orders were the subject of U.S. Supreme Court challenges, before he was the 45th and then the 47th president: on a wild and windswept stretch of beach in northeast Scotland, Donald Trump the businessman was accused of being a bad neighbor. "This place will never, ever belong to Trump," Michael Forbes, 73, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, said this week as he took a break from fixing a roof on his farm near Aberdeen. The land he owns is surrounded, though disguised in places by trees and hedges, by a golf resort owned by Trump's family business in Scotland, Trump International Scotland. For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 − its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. One Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course said that before Trump the area was nothing but featureless sand dunes and that his development, carved between those dunes, made the entire landscape look more attractive. Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes – and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house – without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark − you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years.
