Edinburgh Classic

A host pours a flight of four or five spirits and talks through where each comes from, how it is made and what you are supposed to be tasting. There is usually water and something to eat alongside, and the pours are measured rather than generous. Some sessions add a distillery tour, and a gin tasting often includes blending your own bottle to take home. It runs around ninety minutes, sitting down, and it works well for a group that wants a civilised hour before the night rather than another round of pints.

Standard entry gets the group past the queue on a guest list, which matters because large male groups are the first ones a door turns away. A booth adds a reserved table, a set number of bottles with mixers and a host who looks after the table. Booths are sold on a minimum spend rather than a flat fee at many clubs, so the bottles you order count towards it. Ask what the minimum is and what it includes before you agree to anything. Dress code is enforced hard on stag groups. No sportswear, no trainers at some doors, no matching shirts, and nobody visibly drunk gets in regardless of the booking.

A coach teaches the throw, walks you through the safety rules and stays in the lane with you. Once everyone can stick an axe in the board you move into scored games and a knockout bracket, which is where it gets competitive. Sessions are short, usually around an hour, and it is indoors so the weather does not matter. Most venues sit inside a bar, so you can carry on in the same place afterwards. Closed-toe shoes are compulsory and most venues refuse anyone who has been drinking beforehand. Do it before the drinking, not after.

You meet the guide at a fixed point and move through a run of bars across the evening, usually four or five, finishing at a club. The guide knows the doors, so you skip the queue and the group is not turned away for being too large. Most crawls include a welcome drink or a shot at each stop, and entry to the final venue. The rest is on you. Groups from several bookings are often merged, which some stags like and some do not, so ask whether yours is private. Dress code is the club's, not the guide's. No trainers and no sportswear at the last venue, and matching shirts get refused at some doors.