Voyager Gin

Being a big gin fan I was very happy when a friend picked up a nice bottle for his house when I come over (the sign of a great friend). Voyager is a brand I have never seen before and I was excited to give it a spin in the familiar gin and tonic.

The gin was solely for me, so I ran to the store for the tonic and limes. The smell was less herbal and had an almost vodka level of alcohol. It lives up to its title probably being the truest dry gin I have tried to date. For mixing in a traditional gin beverage I'm sure it is great, and in my gin and tonic it was crisp and clean but lacked the complexity I usually enjoy in a gin. This is one I probably won't be picking up myself as I'm sure it is more expensive than other similar gins.

Bringing in 2012

So I learned a valuable lesson last night. In celebrating New Years I jumped between several different kinds of alcohol. I started the night off with a rye drink at a bar around 8pm. After getting home I enjoyed a gin and tonic and followed that up with a vodka, Midori, Sprite mixed drink and was at the tipsy stage so I held off from 11 til midnight.
Being New Year's we popped open a bottle of Champagne, something I almost never drink. It was just the two of, so we polished off half a bottle each and we're feeling great til about an hour later when I started feeling a little loopy.
I slept fine, but woke up with my whole body feeling heavy, an ill stomach, and a piercing headache. The headache lasted almost all day. That was one of the worst hangovers I've had. Now I know the dangers of Champagne, even though I finally thought I knew my tolerances well. I'll be more careful switching to and trying new forms of alcohol. Those bubbles got me this time, but not again.