Montblanc occasionally released a few Special Edition inks which have a somewhat limited stock. They are quite hard to find in most places, and may be abruptly ended at any given time. There isn’t really a production number, so it isn’t a “limited” edition per se.
One of their special editions is the reproduction of Corn Poppy Red. Corn Poppy Red was once a popular color, but was discontinued quite some time ago. Now, Montblanc has brought it back as a special edition, in a 50mL “shoe” shaped bottle.
The ink comes in a standard Montblanc slide-out box which is quite sturdy and has a luxury feel to it. The color on the side of the box matches the color of the ink and the label on the bottle. There is a foam insert in the box that prevents the bottle from moving around.
The bottle has a stunning metal cap, which is probably aluminum. It is very hefty and does not feel cheap, like some other ink manufacturers. Note that the metal cap is actually standard on all Montblanc inks, not just their special editions.
The lip of the bottle is quite large and can comfortably fit even my thickest pens. The shoe design of the bottle allows you to tip the ink into the smaller reservoir on the right, the proceed to fill from there. That helps you get pretty much every last bit of ink out.
All these photos of the writing used were taken with an iPhone 6 and have been color corrected to the best of my ability. They mostly represent the true color of the ink, regardless of the lighting conditions. Find me on FPN as musicman123!
Here is a quick writing sample preview of the ink. The color matches pretty well with the box. It is a solid red that leans a little bit orange. The color is great for daily writing if you like red.
The review was written with my favorite, the Nemosine Fission with B nib.
As per the usual, the paper used is standard HP 32lb Premium Laser Paper, found readily at Staples and Amazon. The paper takes ink just as well, if not better, than Rhodia and Clairefontaine. It is my go-to paper for all tasks.
Here is the swab of the ink.
I find this ink to be one of the best behaving ones I have (except for iron galls). The ink is extremely wet, even from a somewhat drier nib, and has an excellent amount of lubrication. The ink has only a tiny bit of shading, but that is probably because of how wet is it. No spread, feathering, or bleed through on this paper. There is very little show through, but again, because it is so wet.
The ink takes around 21 seconds to dry. It is a bit longer than other inks I have tried. Keep in mind that the paper I use is very smooth and glossy. It will dry faster on cheaper papers.
Here is a water test. The top grid had drops of water placed for 10 seconds, then vigorously wiped downwards. The bottom text did not receive any drops of water and was only wiped with in the same motion as the grid. The ink performs extremely terribly in this test. There is a HUGE amount of lifting in the grid. There is also an extreme amount of wet smear, rendering the text barely readable.
Here is a scan of the review. Use the scan to read the rest of the review. I did not intend for it to show color accuracy. The pictures are the most accurate representation of the color.
And here is a lovely picture of one of my Jinhao X450’s resting calmly on the top of the bottle. Had to be quite as I didn’t want to wake it.
