Private Reserve - Vampire Red

Private Reserve - Vampire Red - Ink drop

Today’s ink, Vampire Red is another of the re-released collection from Private Reserve. With a new owner, a new bottle, and new packaging, I’m glad the company weathered a difficult 2020.

Private Reserve - Vampire Red - Color range

Visually, this ink is significantly different from what I imagined, but that’s not a bad thing. The name makes perfect sense, just not what I expected. I imagined a classic blood red, but this is more of the iron-rich, brown-red of dried blood. It really dances between brown and red, and it’s difficult to classify consistently. It has a textured, very chalky, matte appearance, and is slightly mottled at times. It isn’t a strong shader, but modest variation was common. The splatter shows dark edging, and a slight sheen. This showed in writing as a dark stroke halo on premium papers and added nice depth and definition.

Private Reserve - Vampire Red - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Vampire Red performed well, particularly on premium papers. Strokes were clean and crisp on all premiums, but there was slight micro-feathering on office copy. Shading was modest to moderate, but it was strongest on Kokuyo and Apica. Halo was most prominent on Rhodia and Apica, but it was nice on all premiums. Drying was quick at 10-15 seconds on premiums, and 5 on office copy.

Private Reserve - Vampire Red - Ink bottle and box

This is an interesting ink, and it’s really grown on me with use. In some ways, it’s similar to Oxblood and Astorquiza Rot, but it leans more towards brown, and it’s quite powdery in appearance. It also seems to change color slightly depending on the paper. On coated papers, it shows slight hints of pink and orange undertones. On uncoated, it shows more of its scarlet and brown influences.

It’s a solid writing ink, and it’s priced well. I’m not a big fan of the bottle and cap, but if you like the color, I definitely recommend the ink!