Montblanc Enzo Ferrari Ink

Montblanc doesn’t really need any introduction to the pen community, even to non pen fanatics due to their prominence in the business world as a status symbol. Montblanc produces a range of limited edition inks each year, some inspired by famous people or writers, usually with a matching pen, and this year’s releases include Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Ferrari – another brand that needs no introduction. According to the motor web museum, Enzo Ferrari used only purple inks as an homage to his father’s memory (read more here).

I saw Enzo Ferrari on the Fountain Pen Australia Facebook page and in the photo it looked very like my beloved Dark Lilac. When I asked the poster, they thought it was very similar, which suckered me into getting my own bottle. At the time, our city was in lock down with only “essential stores” opening, for some reason Montblanc was included in this category, so I was able to pick one up quite quickly to play with in isolation.

Enzo Ferrari is a dark purple, which performs well and I didn’t have any issues on the papers I normally use (Tomoe, Cosmo). I didn’t test it on cheaper photocopy paper, but it did have a few problems on Rhodia. To be honest, most of the ink reviews I’ve done in the recent past, I’ve had problems on Rhodia – significant feathering and bleed through with all nibs used (not just flex or 1.1 italic), so I don’t know whether that’s to do with my block of Rhodia. As a dark ink, it does take a bit more work to clean out but not anything that’s overly onerous and it seemed to flow well with the pens I’ve used with it.

In terms of colour, in my experience, it seems quite flat. The photo that prompted me to buy this ink showed a beautiful gold shimmer, similar to that ink Dark lilac, but this doesn’t have any shimmer that I could see. When wet, it goes down lighter, similar to Pelikan Amethyst, but dries darker. It also doesn’t have the vibrancy of Dark Lilac – the colour seems a bit flatter to me.

Comparing this to other dark purple inks in my collection, it looks more like Montblanc Lavender Purple (sadly discontinued now). If you missed out on that one and you fancy another by the same brand with a similar performance, then this is a good substitute (albeit more expensive).