My new favorite inks are from Noodlers–I will admit that I resisted trying them for a while because I don’t like the bottles.  Such a shallow snob, I know.

Anyway, I ordered a few ink samples from the Goulet Pen Company and included a sample of Noodlers Black Swan English Roses because I liked the name.  I’m not a fan of writing with red ink because it has certain connotations for me, but I had to try it.

I LOVE THIS INK!  It’s a beautiful brownish red that looks a bit like blood in certain kinds of light.  It’s really pretty and so smooth.  I’ve been filling my TWSBI Diamond 580 with it and it’s started to be my go-to. My other regular use pen – the TWSBI Mini is filled with Noodler’s Zhivago (but that’s a subject for another post), and I use them both almost exclusively these days.

I guess that the moral of this story is two-fold:  Don’t judge an ink by its bottle, and Don’t knock it until you try it.