Private Reserve Ink has really been through the wringer over the years, passing through the hands of three separate owners and finally ending up in the hands of Yafa, the current owners/distributors of Monteverde and several other brands. One of the original boutique ink brands that existed alongside Noodler’s from the time I entered the hobby, I’ve had mixed success using Private Reserve throughout my “pen career.” When I first started out, these inks were the only option you had if you wanted highly saturated reds, greens, and blues, but those colors often came with a lot of baggage in the form of slow dry times/smearing, a tendency to stain, and at one point, a propensity to grow mold due to a formulation error. Fortunately, these issues were eventually sorted out, and the new inks exhibit none of these problems. In fact, they’re quite good.

Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue Writing Sample — Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue pops off the page, in the way that many inks haven’t done since Parker discontinued the Penman Sapphire.

To answer the question of “Just how good?”, during my recent visit to Anderson Pens I selected a bottle of what was once one of the highest-maintenance fountain pen inks out there: Private Reserve D.C. Supershow Blue. A saturated blue originally designed to mimic long-discontinued cult ink Parker Penman Sapphire, the old formulation of Supershow Blue was, for me, impossible to use. I found that it never dried, and would clog pens to the point that I would have to prime the feed by twisting the converter a bit any time I stopped writing for more than a day. That said, Supershow Blue is an absolutely gorgeous color, so if Yafa’s most recent take on Private Reserve rendered this color useable, it would be a huge win for everybody.

DC Supershow Blue and its characteristic red sheen - only this time no smearing!

TLDR version: The latest version of this ink is great. To test out dry time/smear resistance, I layered it onto Write Notepads dot grid paper with a folded nib dip pen, and experienced absolutely no bleedthrough or feathering. Importantly, the ink dried relatively quickly, and after a few minutes you could run a finger across the page without any smearing or stickiness whatsoever - impressive since the ink is fairly wet. The color isn’t quite a match for Parker Penman Sapphire (see the comparison in the photo below), but it stands on its own as a great “bright blue” option.

Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue Penman Sapphire Comparison — So at this year’s Chicago Pen Show, the ink testing table contained a sample of Penman Sapphire, which I compared against the new formulation of Supershow Blue. The old Penman Ink has more of a violet hue, with additional red sheen. It does, however, smear much more than the Private Reserve, even two months later.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Given how nice my experience with this ink has been, I’m definitely looking at picking up some additional colors. Private Reserve is widely available from most pen retailers, and generally inexpensive. As I mentioned, I purchased the bottle featured in this review at Anderson Pens Chicago. Most of the standard colors are priced at $15 for 60ml, quite a good deal, with specialty inks such as the “Infinity” series and the “Pearlescent” shimmer inks commanding a slight premium. Another longtime Private Reserve favorite is “Burgundy Mist,” which I reviewed relatively recently, and I look forward to revisiting both Sherwood Green and Tanzanite, inks that were once staples of my collection.

Private Reserve Ink Bottle — People either love or hate the Private Reserve Ink bottles. They feature a large volume (60ml) and a wide opening for easy filling with larger pens, but these bottles do tend to spatter/spill a bit since they always ship ***very*** full. Exercise care when opening!

This post does not contain affiliate links. I was not compensated for this review, and I purchased the inks with my own funds, though I did receive a slight discount on the purchase. Many thanks to Anderson Pens for making this review possible.

I haven’t used Private Reserve ink regularly in years. For those of you who were in this hobby a decade ago, you may recall a time when Noodler’s, Private Reserve, and maybe Levenger were the only options for bright, saturated fountain pen inks that came in dozens of colors. Sure, ink enthusiasts complained about slow dry times, smearing, clogging, feathering and other “high-maintenance” behaviors, but options weren’t plentiful if you wanted to write with an ink other than your basic black, red, or washed-out blue, and these inks were widely available at retail. (Private Reserve ink remains one of the few inks stocked in my local “pen store,” Nashville Trunk & Bag.) Two colors - Private Reserve Burgundy Mist and Sherwood Green, were among the first five bottles of ink I purchased after I discovered fountain pens.

Classic packaging, classic Private Reserve jar/bottle. Though some might claim it lacks aesthetic appeal, Private Reserve makes one of the more practical ink bottles out there.

Unfortunately, over the years, as new ink companies emerged, and as the larger pen companies such as Pilot, Sailor, Pelikan, etc. began to introduce a wider range of options into the ink market, Private Reserve lost ground. Reports of quality control issues didn’t help - I personally lost a bottle of Burgundy Mist to “Slime in the Bottle” (mold) and another red ink turned brown as the dye deteriorated. Then, the owner passed away, and the future of the company was in doubt. You didn’t see much Private Reserve ink in stock at retailers or at pen shows. From an outsider’s perspective, things looked grim.

Not so fast. Recently, things have turned around. A former employee purchased the company. Changes apparently were made to ink formulations. Old favorites such as D.C. Supershow Blue, Burgundy Mist, and Tanzanite began to reappear in stock at retailers. And you know what? The ink I’ve tried thus far is excellent. Back at the beginning of March, as I was getting ready to leave the Baltimore Pen Show, Lisa Vanness asked whether I’d like to take a bottle of Private Reserve to review, as the new owner had been making the rounds at the show - where she had her own table - promoting the company and letting everyone know that Private Reserve is back and ready to do business.

66ml, filled to the brim! (Don’t knock this one over onto the carpet.)

So what about my beloved Burgundy Mist? Is it as good as I remember (minus the whole SITB issue)? In short, yes. Burgundy Mist is the same saturated, classic dark burgundy that shows up well on the page and is perfect for a more conservative office environment. Despite the saturation, the ink behaves incredibly well - it dries nearly immediately in a fine or extra fine nib, with no noticeable feathering and minimal bleedthrough even on the cheapest of generic memo pads from my desk at work. Not what I expected from Private Reserve. Did I mention that the ink remains inexpensive? At $11 for 66ml, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better deal based on price-per-ml, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see that price come up a bit in the future as the company regains its foothold.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Based on my experience with Burgundy Mist, I’m going to give Private Reserve another shot, and look forward to picking up more old favorites such as Sherwood Green, Supershow Blue, Tanzanite, Avocado (yes, they fixed the spelling) and Chocolate. At the price-point, it’s a low-risk proposition, and based on my experience with Burgundy Mist I’m confident that at least a few of those will turn out well and wind up back in the rotation.

Though not as widely available as it used to be, Private Reserve is still relatively easy to find at retailers. Vanness Pens currently has many of the inks in stock, in either bottles or their hefty 4ml samples. As I mentioned, Private Reserve ink remains a bargain at the $11 price point, and the deep bottle is more of a jar, with the wide mouth making it easy to fill pens with large nibs.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates. I received the ink featured in this review free of charge for Vanness Pens for review purposes.