(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Back in July, I reviewed Noodler's Turquoise and came away with an urge to try more blue-green inks. So, here we are — I picked up a bottle of Sailor Jentle Yama-dori on Brad's recommendation. He seems to know a thing or two about good inks, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Turns out, I really enjoy blue-green inks, and I especially enjoy Yama-dori.
If you listen to the podcast much at all, you'll pick up on a trend with Brad's ink tastes (or just look at the Top 5 lists) — he loves some blue-black inks. I like a good blue-black just fine, but some of them get so close to black that I don't end up using them very often. I like the flare and unique colors of some blue-blacks, but it seems like most are too dark for my tastes. That's where Yama-dori comes in. It's a fairly dark ink, but it's blue-green, shades beautifully, and has a red sheen. It's a delightful ink.
From a standard ink perspective, this is a very well-behaved ink. It dries relatively fast (just after 5 seconds for me in a medium nib), doesn't bleed through, doesn't feather much on cheap paper and not at all on premium paper, and cleans out easily. What really sets this ink apart for me is the color, shading, and confusing red sheen. Yep, red sheen in a blue-green ink. I can't begin to explain how that works, but it's fascinating to watch the pooled up ink give off a red color in certain lights. It looks as if someone wrote some lines with a medium blue-green ink and then came back with a red highlighter to fill in the darker parts later. It's unique, and I love it.
Now, I don't know about you, but I don't know much about pheasants. I don't think I've ever seen one in person. When Sailor calls this ink "copper pheasant," I'm not really sure what to think because I don't know whether pheasants are copper or not. After a quick search, I landed on the green pheasant that's native to Japan. Take a look at the male plumage and take a guess at why Sailor named this ink after it. Pretty obvious, right? Dark green, brilliant blue, and shiny red feathers.
If you want an ink that looks professional but has a unique color, Yama-dori is a great color and behaves well. Personally, ever since I've gotten this ink it's always been in at least one pen. I love the blue-green colors because they're brilliant when you look closely under the light. Yet, it's mild and dark enough to be perfectly legible and professional. It has a royal, mysterious feel to it, and I can't get enough of it.
50 mL of the ink will run $20, which is the normal price for the Sailor Jentle line. The bottle (like the other Sailor bottles) has a nifty cone inset that allows you to easily draw up ink even when the ink level gets a bit low. Also, Sailor gets major points in this bottle design because the mouth of the bottle is extra wide. It's frustrating to get a new ink only to find that your favorite pen is too fat to get into the bottle. Well done, Sailor.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
