I got this as part of a Surprise Me sample set. Luckily I read up before using it because I would have been shocked at how wet it is and how not blue it is. In the bottle it looks like a dark blue trending gray. On paper it's grey with a hint, a tiny hint, of blue. Having lived in New England, it's like a winter storm sky gray. Not black, but not an urban gray. I kind of like it.

In the Kakuno medium it flows very well and immediately. It also pushed it up at least one nib size for line width and bleeds through a bit on paper that none of my other inks have. Not badly, but you can see it well. I've mostly been using Iroshizuku Kon Peki in that pen and the difference in bleed through and line size is significant.

I was planning to try out a larger nib size, so effectively I'm doing that now. That's not me picking on the ink, other inks I've tried in the Kakuno had feed issues so this is a change I'm good with. It also confirms that I'll probably stick with the Iroshizuku ink in that pen as the perfect pairing. Maybe this will be what I put in my fine nib Explorer that I feel is a bit too fine for me with that ink. When the current fill in that pen runs out I'll try it and report back.

Overall I like the ink. Fast drying, the waterproof nature is good or bad depending on your needs. I'm not in any rush to empty the pen, unlike some other inks I've tested.

Very smooth ink for me in my LAMY Safari, with a fine nib. I like it as a day to day ink.

Good flow... very wet; some nib creep. Works well with western medium and Chinese EF nibs. Very water resistant, within a minute. Seemed to darken slightly over a few days, but not like standard blue-black. Would be good for addressing packages and letters. Don't know if easy to clean out of pens, don't get it on clothes.

I purchased the 54th Massachusetts because it's my home state. :-) I do love the color, but the ink is too wet or too heavy. Not sure what to call it. I keep using it nonetheless. I use a TWSBI with a medium nib. This ink is the only one that seeps onto the nib. Doesn't drip, but there's always a tinge of ink on the nib even though I wipe it off, it comes right back. I like a clean nib. I do like the ink when writing on cheaper paper rather than the very smooth paper pads Goulet sells. Those very smooth and more expensive paper pads are super fine to use, but I find writing on very smooth paper doesn't bode well with my penmanship as it's too slick of a surface and the ink doesn't dry fast enough. Cheaper paper is fine for me. Just a bit of ghosting with this ink. My favorite paper pad is a steno pad I got on Amazon. The paper is thick. This ink is very nice writing on the steno paper. Not much ghosting. Smooth writing and my penmanship is better! :-) The inks I bought before, like the DeAtramentis, do not seep onto the nib. I probably won't buy the 54th again because of the seeping on the nib issue. But it dries very quickly on cheap paper and is waterproof as far as I can tell. Can someone please tell me why this 54th ink seeps onto the nib of my TWSBI?

54th Massachusetts is just what i've been looking for. Great color and it dries fast on those crappy receipts at pretty much everywhere

Love this ink. The color is great shade of blue/black. Worth the price. Will purchase again

Normally, I only use black inks. I have been expanding my horizons - mostly due to the recent ink sample sale. Saw a review of 54th Mass. and wanted to give it a shot. It is INCREDIBLE! Dark enough and not too blue. But, the hint of the darker blue makes this just an exquisite everyday-appropriate ink. Found a 16 oz. -yep 16 oz. - bottle (unfortunately, elsewhere) and it's on the way.

This is a very wet ink. In most of my pens it feathered like crazy, and I almost threw it away. Hacks like adding water did not work.But then I put it in my TWSBI Mini with an extra fine nib (my driest pen) and it is *perfection*. No feathering. Writes extremely smooth. Dries shockingly fast. Waterproof. The line is a little thicker than other inks in this pen, but still in the fine range. The color is also great aesthetically and functionally. It went from most disappointing to one of my most loved inks once I put it in the right pen, so don't give up on it if it feathers or bleeds on you!

I am generally not a fan of blue inks, but this one is very sharp and classy looking. It's blue-grey-black appearance is an easy choice for a professional environment when you want something a bit distinctive but not flashy. True to other Noodler's inks, this writes smoothly and reliably, and the archival qualities make it especially good. And it dries quickly so it is not a problem for a lefty. Excellent everyday ink. Will be getting a bottle soon.

Beautiful color. Super wet, so choose your pen & paper wisely.

It just looks and feels like a 100 year old ink, dries as a grayish blue. Great everyday color. Not sure, pick up a sample you will not be disappointed.

This is the color ink I was looking for in a blue color. I got a sample pack that had multiple blue inks in different hues and shimmers but I didn't like any of them. This vintage looking blue is perfect for my everyday writing. I like the shimmer inks for writing thank you notes and journaling but for walking around with I prefer a unique blue and deep black. This made me happy to put in my daily writer.

I really appreciate that it is compatible with my dip pens with minimal issues. The only thing that prevents me from giving it 5 stars is that it takes a long time to dry. Still, I would buy this ink again!

I tried this ink in my TWSBI. Fine point. Blots everywhere. I even took the pen apart and reassembled it, thinking something was wrong with it. Nope. It's the ink.

A very unique color but beautiful all the same

My favorite blue black ink I have tried so far. Writes very wet, I have been using it in a broad TWSBI. I have to use blue ink at work and this is great, because it is bullet proof.

I love the dark grey/blue color of Noodler's 54th Massachusetts, but the ink writes wetly, and the flow can be a bit excessive. It will readily bleed through any common paper. I'm planning to put this in a very fine writer. Overall, it's got a great color and cleanup is easy, but it should be paired with a dry writing pen.

I LOVE this color. It's a great navy, sort of a misty navy. But I found the ink to be very, almost too wet. It bled heavily on copy paper. Thicker line compared to other inks.

This dark blue ink was a pleasant surprise for me as a new fountain pen user. Dries quickly, waterproof on writing and watercolor paper and good for drawing. It writes wet, but can be diluted and it takes a good bit of water before the color lightens up. Works well in a brush pen as well.

This was a last-minute add-on so my order wasn't entirely red and black inks. The color is unique, vibrant without being loud. It's easy to read, easy on the eyes. The ink had varied results based on the pen used and the paper written on. Since I greatly appreciated the really thorough reviews others left on here, I want to do the same. PEN: Monteverde Innova EF Nib (drier writer of my two pens)- Copy Paper: Writes smoothly, good Pen-to-Paper feel. - Exceed Notebooks: Dries quickly and writes smoothly. PEN: Hong Dian Black Forest EF Nib (from Amazon) (wetter writer of my two pens)- Copy Paper: Very wet writer. Heavy spread, feathering, ghosting, and bleed-through.- Exceed Notebooks: Flow is wetter, and even on the nicer notebook paper, it has spread and some feathering. Some ghosting, but no bleed-through. I love the darker color with the heavier ink placement. I'd still use it for some writing. Probably keep it to journaling, or personal only notes. The extra spread isn't as professional looking. OVERALL NOTES: - Beautiful color, well behaved, but can be a heavy writer with a wet pen. Not sure if I'll buy a full-sized bottle or not. I'm still just starting my foray into bottled inks!

If you want to write fine lines this is NOT the ink for you. With this ink, lines are FAT (like a nib 2 sizes larger) and feathered and the ink gets all over the nib. Same LAMY Fine nib using a different ink produces clean, fine lines. This ink does hold up well to water though and the color itself is a good.

So I gotten this in a sample size from a surprise me set , and let me say I actually love it ! It surprised me because it wasn't a color I would have bought for myself , but ended up loving it ... i didn't even know it was water resistant , when swatching but when some water got on my paper of all the colors , that's when I noticed it didn't budge . So I came on here an that's when I found out it was described at water resistant:) It's a very nice color ! And great for journaling

This is my new favorite ink. The color is beautiful. Great value!

Read the reviews! Well if you're reading this then you already are, but I didn't for some reason. The color is very different from the thumbnail. Its not that deep saturated blue, but actually much more gray. It is like Herbin Vert de Gris, but a few hues more blue than green. Its also very wet. It makes my fines write like mediums. Not the ink I was looking for but maybe for someone.

Color was very different than I was expecting. Was expecting someting somewhat muted, but it was very bright. The flow was also unusably wet. The kind of ink that makes pens wrtie a size or two bigger than with other inks. Thankfully I didn't get a bottle but a sample.

I can only speak for the sample I received. It is not very dark and not very blue, more a medium gray with a tinge of blue. All the images I've seen online seem very different. I suspect QC or sampling issues.

Really like the color, I will be ordering more of this.Kind of has a Antique look about it.

I love the color, a matte blue/black with grey tones. This is a muted blue, which I like. The ink flows extremely fast out of F nib (0.3) and dries just as fast. Maybe it's just my pen (Platinum Preppy) but the ink flow is much faster than other inks. Surprisingly, the dry time is immediate even though it's a wet flow. I will try this in an EF nib next.

Noodlers is an awesome brand, and this ink is definitely at top of my list for favorites. The color is not as black as the images show, more of a really subtle blue/gray color. I have been using it in a Lamy Safari with 1.1 stub nib, and it is great.