Oops - overdid the bitters (Australian in my case) so the warm spices dominated everything... Reused lemon wheel in place of lime probably didn't help either but it was an interesting mix of botanicals from the gin and spices from the ginger ale and bitters which didn't seem to suffer as the ice melted and dilluted things. :-)
I had some cheap ginger ale (Schweppes Canada Dry) and tried it; it was too sweet and way too bland.
In the base of the shaker, I muddled a small slice of ginger root, with about hald a shot of lemon juice, and added it to the mix: I find it more balanced, and the ginger makes up for the lack of expressiveness of the cheap ginger ale.