Reviewing Montblanc limited edition inks formed a staple of my review content in the early days of the blog, back when their seemingly endless stream of ink releases offered something unique that no one else in the market was doing. Things have changed! As other companies expand their ink lines, and get into the special/limited edition and “themed” ink games, often at much lower price points, I’ve become more selective about which of the Montblanc inks I acquire. Lately, those have been limited to a couple inks in the Petit Prince series, the Beatles Psychedelic Purple, and the James A. Purdey & Sons whisky-scented ink. (I skipped the one that smells like cigars.) This past year, I added the Rudyard Kipling ink released in conjunction with Montblanc’s 2019 Writers Edition pen.
Montblanc Kipling is shown here compared against Montblanc Irish Green. The Kipling has much more gray/steel blue to it than the Irish Green, which is much brighter.
Montblanc aptly describes the color of the Kipling ink as “Jungle” green. It’s a mid-toned green similar to the Jonathan Swift “Seaweed Green” ink released several years ago, which I owned at some point before I sold it off in a downsizing only to immediately regret it. This particular shade of green ink looks exceptionally good in a wet pen like a stub or a broad nib, and behaves as well as your typical Montblanc ink.
A writing sample of Montblanc Kipling, shown here on Write Notepads Dot Grid Paper. This particular writing sample was done with a stock broad nib in a Montblanc 149. Montblanc’s stock broad nibs are quite stubbish, and worth trying out unmodified before you decide to have the nib ground.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
Fewer of the Montblanc limited edition inks have caught my eye recently, mainly because Montblanc has been releasing these special editions regularly for over a decade and now the colors are starting to look like repeats in many cases. If I pick one up, it’s typically an ink similar to one that I “missed” the first time around or regretfully sold off - in this case the Jonathan Swift. I’ll likely hang on to my bottle of Kipling since this medium-toned green is something of an uncommon color and I enjoy how it looks in a stubbish nib.
You can currently purchase a 50ml bottle of the Montblanc Kipling Ink from site sponsor Appelboom. At around $32 per bottle (which may fluctuate with the exchange rate), it’s not an inexpensive ink, but then again nothing from Montblanc comes cheap. At least with this particular Writer’s Edition, you get the larger 50ml crystal inkwell bottle as opposed to the smaller 30ml version.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I participate in Appelboom’s affiliate program, which generates store credit that I use to acquire products for review purpose, such as this ink. It’s one of many ways I support the blog.