on saleRohrer & Klingner Salix (iron gall) - Ink Sample

I've been looking for inks that are [X] Permanent, [X] Dry Fast, and [X] write a tight EF line. (Some inks write a generous F or M line even from an EF nib.) Salix checks all three boxes for me, PLUS Salix does some surprisingly nice shading. I've tested only with an Ahab / Goulet EF nib on Clairefontaine 90gsm dot journal paper, so this is not a rigorous review. The blue is muted, not bright and showy. Salix does not dry as dark as R&G Scabiosa (also an iron gall), which is purplish, and by the time Scabiosa dries and sets, it's all dark and not much shading survives. But Salix retains a lot of light/dark variety in the strokes. I LIKE!

Really cool ink. It works pretty good on low quality's paper as well.

This ink looks very nice, and survives water and highlighter.

I bought this ink specifically because it is supposed to be dry. I wanted to tame a very wet writing Vanishing Point so that I could use it with legal pads at work. It certainly accomplished that goal. It is dry to the point that I really feel the paper when I am writing, even with my super-smooth VP. If you want a lubricated, slick writing experience, this is not the ink for you. But, the color is fantastic for professional work--it starts off as a somewhat vibrant blue then turns to a true blue-black. The ink also does well on cheap paper, which is exactly what I want it to do. Shading-wise, I'd say it's a medium because it does shade somewhat with my VP (with a fine nib), but I don't know how much it would shade in a drier writer. Dry time is also great. I am a lefty over/side writer and I've not had any problems with smudging. Great ink overall.

A good blue-black iron gall ink. Like other IG inks, it seems a little watery while writing, but it dries to a darker color; unlike Diamine Registrar's, this one dries blue. The color is the only thing preventing me from ordering a full bottle. I would like it to be a darker, more consistent blue, like the picture above. On a few papers, it can almost look purple. On others, it looks rather washed out. This is a dry ink, even though it looks watery while wet. I usually write with a fine point because my Q-Eternity spreads a little; I switched back to a medium for this ink. Drying is a two-step process. It gets dry to the touch rather quickly, but it doesn't fully dry into the paper and get waterproof for a little while. The ink darkens over a minute or two while this is happening. I have yet to have it feather on me, even on cheap copy paper. If you can't get fountain-pen friendly paper for one reason or another, I whole-heartedly recommend this ink.