Review : Private Reserve Fiesta Red Fountain Pen Ink

With Mardi Gras coming up, we are in the party mood to review the Private Reserve Fiesta Red bottled ink. The test pen is a Cross Sentiment fountain pen in fine point. As with the other Private Reserve inks that have been reviewed lately, the Fiesta Red color is rich with saturated pigmentation. Not quite a burgundy or fire-engine red, the hue can be best described as a rich, blood red.


Drying time is an issue. As you can see by the writing sample, even three seconds is not completely smear-proof. The flow is great and you can see a bit of shading. No feathering, but you can see a bit of show-through on the back of the page. Overall, a beautiful color, but probably best used by right-handed people with a fine or extra-fine nib to prevent as much smear as possible.