thINKthursday
Montblanc Corn Poppy Red

A vivacious flower for the ages.
Depth and shade and hue engages.
Surely none as well assuages,
The need for red upon your pages.

thINKthursday – Montblanc Corn Poppy Red

With a new shipment of Corn Poppy Red in store, we had to take a look at it and see how it stacked up against some other reds. This vibrant red ink is a favorite of ours, and the nightmare of school children everywhere. Packaged in Montblanc’s standard glass shoe bottle, the smaller compartment ingeniously allows you to fill even when the bottle is getting low. Priced at $21.50, Montblanc ink is a fair value for a great ink and an awesome bottle. This review was done with a Pilot Metro F, Lamy Safari B, and on Rhodia blank no.18 paper.

Often times the trouble with red ink is that it leans to far into the pink or burgundy category. Corn Poppy is a rich true red that looks great in both fine and broad nibs. In a fine nib the ink doesn’t shade and is a uniform dark cherry color. With a broader nib there was a little more shading. You can expect colors from rose to a blood red. Corn Poppy is a tad darker than Sheaffer Red, which is considered by many to be the epitome of a red ink.

Montblanc inks are generally well behaved, and Corn Poppy Red is no exception. The flow was good with no feathering or bleedthrough on Rhodia paper. It has moderate saturation and shading, with no water resistance. The only area that it didn’t perform the best was with dry times. In a fine nib it took at least 25 seconds and a broad nib well over 30 seconds.

If you’re in the market for a red ink, Corn Poppy Red is well worth a spin. It’s so lovely, it gives even Sheaffer Red a hard time!

As with any ink review, the pen, paper, and person doing the writing will influence the way the ink looks. If you’re not sure about a color, try a sample to see if it’s the one for you.

Ink it Up!
Chris

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