Monteverde - Mercury Noir

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - Ink Drop on Cosmo Air Light

Mercury Noir is the reddest ink in Monteverde’s Noir series. Released in 2018, the ten Noir inks blend various colors with black to create interesting, complex mixes that match the series name well. Based on the popular blue-black ink combination, they have a smoky, after-midnight quality that I like.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - on Cosmo Air Light

Mercury Noir mixes red with black (and based on the chromatography, blue, as well) to beautiful effect. From my ink drop, swatch card, and writing samples, you can see that different papers bring out very different color qualities. The same is true for nib widths and styles, as well.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - Color Range

The base color is a gentle, purplish red, and that’s what you’ll find on uncoated papers. It reminds me of the dusty, greyish, dark red of adzuki bean (red bean) paste so popular in Korean and Japanese desserts. On some of my high-quality, coated papers (Cosmo Air Light, Tomoe River, and others), the black elements come alive in interesting ways, and set it apart from similar inks in my collection.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - on Cosmo Air Light

On some coated papers, there’s a nice, darkened stroke edge that really makes it stand out confidently. This isn’t a strong shading ink, but there is often a consistent variation from medium to dark on uncoated papers, and the occasional stroke end example on coated papers.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - Writing Samples

Writing performance was very nice, overall. On most high-quality papers, strokes were clean and sharp. I found some feathering on Mnemosyne, Apica, and a bit on Rhodia, as well. At the same time, it was surprisingly good on high-quality copy paper (HP BrightWhite 24), although there was some ghosting. Thinner nibs (I used a juicy, Jowo medium) would likely limit show through considerably.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - Ink Swatch Card

Flow was neutral to wet, and very comfortable, particularly in wider nibs. Drying was always better than average, too. I don’t have any complaints in flow.

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - Comparisons

Monteverde Mercury Noir is another attractive and interesting in from the Noir series. It’s a color that you can use in many settings, neither too red, nor too purple. Stick to papers that pair well, and you’ll be very pleased. Monteverde inks are very well priced, and you’ll find this ink and most of the others in their catalog available in 30 ml and 90 ml bottles, or international standard cartridges.

Special thanks to Yafa Brands, and Monteverde Inks for sending this and several more Monteverde inks!

Monteverde - Mercury Noir - 30 ml Bottle