Halfway down one of Edinburgh's most popular streets, there are bartenders with paint on their clothes and a skip in their step.
They have been working tirelessly during the coronavirus lockdown to make the dreams of Jane Nolan and partner Nick come true - in the form of a brand-new whisky bar on Leith Walk set to open its doors on Monday.
The 'Mother Superior', inspired initially by the film that many say put Edinburgh on the movie map, is a 'bar made from bartenders' according to Jane, who hopes it'll pull in whisky lovers and those new to the dram through its doors.
"There's a thing about whisky that you have to spend loads of money and know the tasting nodes," she admits. "But I don't think that's the way it should be.
READ MORE: Diageo unveils ‘world’s first plastic-free paper-based' whisky bottle
"If you enjoy whisky, you enjoy whisky. And we'll try our hardest to find the right one for you."
Originally hailing from Ireland, Jane had managed another popular Edinburgh bar, the Black Cat, before deciding to branch out on her own.
She showed interest in the bar, originally the Bar Brig, just a few months before Scotland went into lockdown, and took the plunge in the weeks the country began to close.
But with new Covid safety measures in place and the health of her team paramount, Jane was stuck for contractors to turn her ambitions into a reality.
“My partner is a carpenter which is perfect, but all other trades we’ve had to put them off till now to prevent risking health,” she explained.
“But because of this, my whole bar has basically been built by my friends.
“It’s so good knowing the journey we’ve been on to get to this stage. There’s going to be so many memories here.”
Many pubs across Scotland are due to open their doors on Wednesday, July 15, in line with phase 3 of the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown.
The team had originally thought of following through with their Trainspotting-inspired theme and had decked the walls in the film’s trademark orange, black and white.
When that did not quite offer the result that they had originally envisaged, they went back to the drawing board, with help from local independent design team Arkdefo.
They hope to instead bring elements of Trainspotting to customers in a more subtle way, merging traditional colours and decor with bizarre decor and themed toilets.
It is those kinds of mistakes-turned-decisions that Jane says really makes the bar their own.
“We’re not professionals,” she admits. “When we’ve made mistakes, we just roll with it.
“When it is done, and we’re hoping and praying that that will be this week, my dream bar will have been made entirely by my friends.
“A bar made by bartenders – I couldn’t ask for more.”
It is not just time and effort that Jane has contributed; she is also pouring her own extensive collection of whisky into the Mother Superior.
Made up of around 45 bottles of the traditional drink, the collection will sell for the same price as she bought it – and there will be hundreds of others on offer.
Jane says she wants to make whisky accessible for everyone, and to invite first-time tasters to join in.
“It was in Edinburgh that I first discovered my love for whisky, and I want others to be the same,” she said.
“I think there’s definitely a whisky for everyone out there, and we just want to make that connection.”
While the bar’s focus will be on its vast selection of drinks, there will be another side to it which will highlight community work.
“There’s a space underneath the pub that we want to use as kind of a mental health space,” Jane revealed. “It won’t only do events that are related to alcohol.
“If someone wants to learn karate, we’ll bring in an expert and hold a class. Our bartenders have so many passions outside of work, and we want to incorporate them.”
When the pub hits the ground running, the team eventually want to organise some merchandise, which will see part of the profits go to drug rehabilitation charities in the local area.
Jane said: “It’s important to me, and it’s important to the area. We’re excited to see what the future holds for us.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here