What's the best way to close a Mercurial branch?

Is it better to first close a branch and then merge it with the default branch(for instance) or first merge it and then close it?

In TortoiseHg for instance, in the first case, you'll see a line from a close node to the default branch. In the second case you'll see a line from the last commit to the default branch and an extra line from the last commit to a close node.

I hope I'm clear. Maybe it's a matter of taste...