Where to buy: Blackbird Inks [Here]

Price: £5.95

Bottle size: 30ml

Price/ml: £0.20 (2dp)

Colour: Green

Shading: Slight

Sheening: No

Recommend?: This is a pug ink. Ugly but cute.

Recently I have found myself down another rabbit hole, still in the pen hobby, but more niche. Mabie Todd fountain pens. Unfortunately, Mabie Todd ceased production, but now the brand has been resurrected and this begins with a line of inks: Blackbird Inks (to pay homage to Mabie Todd’s previous line of inks, Swan Inks). So to say I am really excited about this is an understatement as it brings new inks and new pens. I have an offering of six inks to review for you. These inks are made in England – operating in the same way Mabie Todd did back in the 20th century. The pens will also be made in England, which is why the release will be a bit later on because it’ll take longer to manufacture than outsourcing. Though, well worth the wait and stays true to the Mabie Todd brand that brought us the pen of the British Empire.

All the inks are named after birds, which is a great theme. You can buy the inks here directly. Links to independent reviews will be uploaded as and when they’re made – all links open in a separate tab. You can find the reviews here (all links open to a separate tab)-

I love ducks. The mallard is a type of duck, green (or at least their heads are) mallards are males, while the females are brown and slightly mottled. I have a family of ducks that walk up to my window every morning when I open the curtains as my university room overlooks the river where they live (I will be upset to leave this room, mainly because of the ducks). Completely irrelevant to the review but sorta cool. The identity may have been useful though.

Mallard Green by Mabie Todd is a, somewhat aptly, pond water green – similar to that of Rorher & Klinger Alt Goldgrün. While I don’t particularly like greens, I do really love this shade. I shouldn’t because initially I think “what an ugly colour” but then think “I actually quite like this.” As I said – it’s a pug ink; ugly but cute.

In shade it’s darker than Alt Goldgrün, but I think the description could be the same. It is a stark contrast to something like Montblanc Irish Green, however.

Slight feathering on cheaper paper. Though I was quite surprised, as the pen I have it in is very wet, furthermore you only have a little bit of bleed and I think you might actually be able to get away with using both sides of the paper? Perhaps slightly ambitious, though if you’re using it in a finer and/or drier nib then..?

While mallards themselves have waterproof feathers, this ink isn’t waterproof.

Alright, this isn’t the most attractive of inks, but I do think it has some interesting qualities and can sort of grow on you as a rather aesthetically pleasing ink.

Disclaimer: I was sent this ink in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed are my own.