Oh yeah, zopiclone is one of the strongest sleep inducing drugs I've experienced, might be the strongest (depending on dose, usual are 7.5mg) but as said, it is also the possibly worst tasting medically used substance out there, it's so bitter that the traces hitting your taste receptors from out of the bloodstream are enough for everything to taste horribly. Worst are dairy foods imo but really everything tastes like metal.
I've got it prescribed once during three months and took it every day, it continued to be effective and I got no withdrawal afterwards. This is no free ticket to use it for longer, I guess anything beyond a few weeks is dangerous as it is with benzos but my 2 cents are that Z drugs are a bit less bad at tolerance and withdrawal than them.
Drinking while on zopiclone is interesting (albeit a BAD idea as you WILL blackout, be warned!), it comes with hypnagogic closed eye visuals - incredibly detailed black/white scenery.
Zolpidem on the other hand didn't sedate me the slightest. It was an interesting substance on its own, more relaxing and anxiolytic than zopiclone, and maybe the crack of the z-drugs, it hits very fast (a few minutes) and lasts barely one hour and a half. Oh, and for women it's 2x the strength due to some genetical interaction.
