Volga River is from Tramol. Tramol is a popular and prolific pen and ink maker in China, and among other places, their products are widely available on AliExpress. I’ve seen them listed on at least one popular online paper and ink retailer in the US, but the prices were almost five times higher! On AliExpress they go for US$2 to $4 per bottle, and there’s no reason to pay extra.

Flowing from central Russia to the Caspian Sea, the Volga is the longest River in Europe. In many Slavic languages, “volga” means “wetness”. With its deep blue color, and its wet consistency, Volga River is a very fitting name for this ink!

Like the mighty river, Volga is a deep, deep blue. It’s quite striking in its richness and purity. It’s a nice shading ink, and light areas reinforce the pedigree of the base color. This is also a heavy sheener, and the brilliance of the pink-red sheen contrasts the blue perfectly. There’s a lot to like in this attractive ink.

Like many sheening inks, Volga has a rich, wet, viscous consistency. It flows beautifully on the page. Drying was quick in writing on both coated and uncoated papers, which surprised me, as the splatter (on Rhodia) never truly dried at all! Unlike many similar inks, I didn’t have problems with smearing in normal writing. Aesthetically, I prefer it coated papers, but it writes well on both. I’m not always a huge fan of sheening inks, but I have to say, this is a nice writing ink.

If sheening inks interest you, I think you’ll like Tramol’s Volga River. This is definitely a nice one! I paid less than US$4, so it’s really a no-brainer! From sheening to shimmering to waterproof, Tramol make some very nice inks. Enjoy!