Not sure how to describe this ink. It absolutely is the blackest black I've ever swatched, but in a pen, it makes sort of "soft" looking lines. Dark but soft edged, so to speak. I'm talking on Maruman paper, and the same pen writes incredibly crisp, sharp lines with Lamy Obsidian and Dominant Industry Base Black. Not an ink I'd enjoy using, but I can see it being great for someone who doesn't write as tiny as me.

Great deep black hue, flows well. But it can ghost more readily on basis paper.

Great color but comes out thin/not as saturated as I would like and leans to the brown side as a result. The sample was very well packaged and sealed though.

I really like this color as it is a bit darker than grey but has the ability to be used for shading.

Nice ink.

Great very solid black ink. Bought a bottle and now ill need another!

This is a very nice, very black ink. My only issue with it is that it's quite wet, so it tends to feather/create broad strokes on cheap notebook paper. I'm using a Platinum Preppy with a fine nib, so maybe it would behave better in my Pilot Metropolitan fine nib. If this ink had the same flow as the Platinum Carbon Black (another nearly perfect ink, but looks faded/light when dry), it would be perfect!

Similar to Noodler's Black, but darker

Heart of darkness is the first bottle of ink that I bought. I knew that I would need black and that this was a pH neutral, archival quality, waterproof ink. And for a bonus I got a free pen too. I polished up the nib and now I'm using it for my shimmering inks. The more I play with inks, the more I am determined that I want as many archival quality inks as I can get. My great-grandkids might not really want to read my journals, but I would like them to be able to at least see that I kept them. I read through noodler's ink website and I agree with their theories on ink. I want high quality, archival inks that are easy on my pens.

I've been testing sample inks through 2 different Jinhao pens - one medium nib and one fine - on 4 different types of paper. This is the only ink that performed well in all the scenarios. I write a lot on basic legal pads and this is the best I've found for that. Great stuff and I just ordered a full 4.5 oz bottle so it would seem that I am committed.

This is a great black ink for regular writing, but it immediately railroads with flex writing. I cannot tell it apart from Noodler's Black when it's on the page, in terms of color. It is a much faster-drying ink than Noodler's Black, which is a plus for some people. I suspect this is because it penetrates the paper quickly, because on cheaper paper it will feather a bit. If you use a fine nib (like the Charlie pen that sometimes comes with the ink), you can't go wrong. The ink seems to have greater cohesion with itself than Noodler's Black, which may account for the railroading (you can see this in the bottle; if you shake it up a bit, Black will adhere to the sides of the bottle for several minutes, whereas Heart of Darkness will slide back down into itself almost immediately). One trick you can try for the flex pen: If you add just a trace of dish soap to the ink (I recommend doing this in a sample vial, not the whole bottle), this will disrupt this cohesion a little, and the ink will railroad much less because it will be more inclined to adhere to the tines of the nib. Good luck!

This is far and away the best black I have used. It is exactly what I want in a black ink. No shading, pitch black, great flow. Makes other inks look grey by comparison. It's also performs admirably on cheaper paper. I will definitely be buying more.

I first received my sample of Heart of Darkness during one of the Ink Drop subscriptions a few years back and have been dying to own it ever since. A deep, solid black that writes beautifully. Would have been 5 stars but not available in smaller bottles (adds too much weight and becomes pricey shipping to me in NZ).

If you are looking for a truer black than Noodler's (regular) Black and don't mind slower dry times and slight feathering on cheaper paper then try this out. In the same Nib HOD is thicker, darker, and feathers ever slow slightly when compared to Noodler's Black and it's still waterproof and bulletproof.

Great smooth wet flow.Doesn't dry out.Great legibility from the Darkness.All around great working ink that is also waterproof.

I liked this sample for everyday use. I use it to teach, under a document camera. It shows up nicely and dries quickly enough that I can highlight over what I wrote.

I was looking for a dark permanent black and this worked perfectly. I love it and have used the whole sample. Will definitely buy a full bottle.

I couldn't believe how dark the ink writes, it's comparable to the Pilot G2 gel pen that I was attempting to emulate with a fountain pen. I'm fairly new to testing inks, but I didn't notice any problems with my fountain pen's behavior. I've already ordered a larger bottle. I'm so glad I was able to test out the ink before I committed to the 4.5 oz.

This ink has a reputation for not feathering or bleeding through, even on cheap paper. In my experience, however, this ink is runnier and bloodier than Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. As a student, I typically use cheap paper and a Lamy extra-fine nib. I sampled this ink on the premise that it wouldn't bleed. However, for my purposes, 54th is a cleaner ink with less feathering and bleeding.

Got a bunch of Noodlers Black ink samplers to choose the perfect black. I don't want a bunch of slightly different blacks. I want one black. You know, when you want black, you want black. This fills the bill. I did a face off with this an Noodlers Black. Heart of Darkness wins. What I like most is that it dries fast and cleans very easily, which is a plus for an ink with a high die content. Writes wet, an the lines/characters are thicker than regular Noodlers Black. Doesn't smudge. Goes down well on Rhoda Dot paper and Travlers River Journal. It's my black. The only ding I can give it is that you have to buy a big bottle. I don't think I could use 4.5 ounces before I leave this world. Anyway, it's my black and I'm keepin' it.

I got this in the permanent black pack. I sampled it in a 1980s Parker Vector. It writes really smooth and flows extremely well. I do not see any feathering and it dries well. I really like it.

I picked this sample because one of the Goulet experts loves it, and I now need to acquire a bottle of my own. This ink draws you into the darkness and has a cool vibe. I've had a bottle of Waterman Black for years, only started using it last year, and the rest of the time I've used Sheaffer black cartridges. (Not even counting Quink). This ink is fun!

I received this ink sample as part of Ink Drop, and it's awful. It's incredibly runny. Noodler's inks creep sometimes, but this just completely leaked everywhere - I had to completely disassemble my pen in order to clean ink out of the section and barrel. Additionally, even though I store my pens nib up, as soon as I uncapped this pen to write with it, ink came running out of the nib and feed. Once I cleaned the pen and reassembled it, I filled it with another ink and everything was fine, so it's not the pen. I've never had leaking issues with the pen in question before, either.

Excellent Color. Color exactly as shown on website.

Love this, it is the blackest black that I have sampled. This ink also has great flow in my XF Sailor nib!

If regular Noodler's Black is Black then this one is SUPER Black! My go to Black ink.

I see no real difference between this and Bulletproof black. Both are great black-blacks. I'll stick with the original.

The difference that I see between this black and Noodler's regular Black, is that it is a very matte black, almost like a sharpy. I prefer the shinier look of Bulletproof Black--to me, it looks darker, which I like.

Simply a good solid black that I use as my go-to ink for schoolwork.

An ok black, but Noodler's other blacks are better. Despite the name, it is not any darker/blacker than the regular bulletproof black. It is very quick drying, but the tradeoff is it feathers/bleeds through cheap paper. I prefer the regular black's behavior, even with the slightly longer drying time.