Ink Review #233: Monteverde Azure Noir

We are nearing the end of Monteverde week, so today's ink is Azure Noir, from the Noir 10-ink collection. I purchased my samples of ink from Goulet Pens. 

The color:

Azure Noir I think is supposed to be a blue black, but to me is somewhere between blue black and grey.

Is it grey, is it blue black, what do you think?

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium-some of the ink washed away, but it was still readable.

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: Low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer. 

On 20 pound copy paper there was a little bit of feathering but other than that it behaved well.

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): Monteverde Smoke Noir, Monteverde Azure Noir, and Diamine Earl Grey. Click here to see the Monteverde inks together, and click here to see the grey inks together. Azure Noir isn't very similar to these greys, so next let's compare it to some blue blacks...

Diamine Blue/Black, Robert Oster Blue Black, and KWZ Warsaw Dreaming. Click here to see the blue black inks together. Azure Noir is a lot less saturated than any of these blue blacks. 

Longer writing: 

I used a broad Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl on Tomoe River paper. The ink had a wet flow.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the color. I was expecting a more true blue black based off of the ink's name, but it's somewhere between a blue black and a grey. Give it a try, you might love it.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page.