Last weekend, I found myself at an unspecified vintage night out East for a friend's birthday. And somewhere between the (insulting) door fee, the (one-in/one-out) coat-check, and a quick (and scarcely mediocre) Manhattan at the bar, I found myself down £25.

Now this is the kind of wound one expects if hitting a Mayfair cocktail joint. But I was in the arse-end of the 'Ditch. In an arse of a club. Being served an arse of a drink.

No prizes for guessing what I felt like.

So whether it's our overriding love of the finer things or an unyielding fear of the bill, this year, my friends, is all about the BYOHF - Bring Your Own Hip Flask. Where some might call it smuggling, I prefer to think of it as an extension of the Christmas Spirit…

Travelling large: pack yourself the £10k Ardbeg double gun case. Colour-coded subtlety: a hot pink leather 6 ouncer from Pickett. A stylish outing: this beautifully embossed 10oz Ianthe Hunter Flask. But if you need to make it past the authorities, try a girly Dear Diary or reverential Good Book, with a demure 4oz hip flask hidden inside.

Just cross your fingers that Him Upstairs doesn't catch you.

Ardbeg Double Barrel available direct from Ardbeg Distilery, £10,000

Coloured leather hip flasks available from Pickett, starting at £49