Ink Review #845: Vinta Azure Maharlika 7107

We’ve made it to the last Vinta Ink sample I have, Vinta Azure Maharlika 7107 from Vinta’s Series 1. According to Vinta’s website, “Maharlika means "nobility" in Tagalog. These men and women were the leaders of the Filipino communities before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century to colonize the Philippines. The beautiful azure color of this ink with pink accents evokes the image of the dusk in the Philippines as the sun sets over its 7107 islands.” Thanks to Vanness Pens for sending a sample over for review.

The color:

Maharlika is a medium-dark blue with lots of pink sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink shows off some pink sheen, but there wasn’t quite as much sheen as I expected.

Writing samples:

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

Dry time: 15 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there was some bleeding in the flex nib.

Other properties: low shading, high sheen, and no shimmer. There was sheen in every nib size on Leuchtturm and Tomoe River paper, but I couldn’t get it to sheen on Rhodia, so it falls a bit short of the “monster sheener” mark.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper the ink feathered in all nib sizes and had a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Maharlika seems to fit in-between two inks, a bit darker than Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue, but not quite as dark as Organics Studio Nitrogen. Click here to see the Vinta inks together, and click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Transparent Blue with a medium nib on Tomoe River paper. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, it has a high pink sheen, not as much as the monster sheening inks, but does suffer some of the same issues they do (although not as badly), a few hard starts, slightly sticky flow, and can be smeared days after drying. I wrote the writing sample shown above over a week ago but I can still easily smear it if I run my hand across the page. I enjoy playing with high sheening inks, but I don’t reach for them often due to the smearing. I’ve used my entire sample of the ink, but I don’t need a full bottle of it.

Disclaimer: A sample of this ink was provided by Vanness Pens for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.