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Old Formula Montblanc Midnight Blue (Ig) - Smell?

Intensity

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Intensity

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I have a bottle of Montblanc's Midnight Blue ink with IG content. The ink works fine, but I wonder if the rather unpleasant smell coming from it is normal. My R&K Scabiosa IG ink doesn't smell anything like the Midnight Blue ink.

 

Does anyone here still have a bottle with the old formulation of Montblanc's Midnight Blue and could tell me whether the ink smells funky? Or has my bottle gone bad? If the smell is the only thing seemingly wrong with it, is it still okay to use?

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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OCArt Donor Pen

OCArt

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Mine has a sharp rather medicinal smell.

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We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams

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Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

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Medicinal is probably how I'd describe it too, with a hint of something sour. I guess that's normal then (assuming your bottle is still good).

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Tweel Collectors Item

Tweel

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Mine has only a very faint smell. Not medicinal, sharp or sour. I think the ink in my bottle is good.

fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

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Mine has only a very faint smell. Not medicinal, sharp or sour. I think the ink in my bottle is good.

How would you describe the faint scent though? I do have to stick my nose into the bottle to smell my ink.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Tweel Collectors Item

Tweel

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Well, you've succeeded in getting me to sniff ink by remote control, over the Internet :D .

 

I don't know -- the smell is vaguely familiar somehow, but I can't place it. But if you have to put your nose in the bottle, it's probably OK. Many or most inks do have some sort of smell. A sour smell might just be whatever acid they use to keep the iron gall in solution. (Yes! I still can't place the persistent "familiar" smell, but when I first took off the cap there was a brief smell similar to vinegar.)

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fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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Bronze Extremely Rare

Bronze

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So I just had a sniff of a bottle of the old Blue-Black (from before it was called Midnight Blue) and it does have a somewhat sour smell, dare I say a bit vinegary?

 

The ink looks perfectly fine, I'd use it personally.

 

I had a whiff of some Diamine Registrar's ink as well, and it too has a certain sour hint to it, but not as strong, and less vinegary than the MB.

 

(The thought of people across the globe sniffing ink is rather hilarious :))

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Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

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Hah, well, a discussion about smelling inks in another thread not long ago is how I found that my Montblanc ink smells as it does. It had been on my mind since then to check whether this ink is still okay to use.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Tweel Collectors Item

Tweel

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Oh, well... in the midst of another thread once upon a time, I ended up tasting Pelikan blue-black. Yup, I could taste iron.

fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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The Good Captain Donor Pen

The Good Captain

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All my bottles of Scabiosa and Salix, for that matter, have always had an 'odour' reminding me of slightly off or cheap wine. As Lapis could probably back me up...

...my IG Montblanc hasn't but I won't be sniffing it for a while as I plan to keep the couple of bottles I have left, unopened.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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Just to make sure we're talking about the right old MB blue-black(s), my Ident. No. 12574 was issued 10 years ago and still has no smell.

My latest bottle of the newer edition (105194) is 5 years old and also has no smell. Good thing I bought the last 6 bottles I could find here...

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Intensity

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I'm not sure what the batch number is, but at the bottom of my bottle there's a white sticker that says

 

1205-Nov17 / Made in Austria

Encre Bleu Nuit

 

It has a medicinal scent with perhaps a hint of vinegar if I put my nose within 3 inches of the opened bottle.

 

Are you sure your ink has no smell at all? I've not encountered an ink yet that has zero scent: some have a very subtle scent, but it's there :)

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Tweel Collectors Item

Tweel

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My latest bottle of the newer edition (105194) is 5 years old and also has no smell.

 

That's what I have.

 

I'm not sure what the batch number is, but at the bottom of my bottle there's a white sticker that says

 

1205-Nov17 / Made in Austria

Encre Bleu Nuit

 

The "identity number" is the catalog or model number, and is given on the box. The one on the bottom of the bottle is a batch number of some sort.

fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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Intensity

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I do not have the box to check :(

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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