Ink Review: Papier Plume Bootlegger’s Sacrament

Chicago’s colorful, criminal, past during Prohibition was the initial inspiration for this ink. It became a wine-related color when Papier Plume discovered that during Prohibition sacramental wine, which was exempt from the general ban on alcohol, became a source of stock for bootleggers (and the occasional Church official). William Faulkner’s favorite bootlegger was said to be a New Orleans priest.

I have been using the ink in two pens, a Pelikan M600 with medium nib, and a Franklin-Christoph with medium stub. It has behaved perfectly in both, starting up immediately with no issues. I’d rate the ink flow as either average or slightly on the dry side. The ink dries fairly quickly for me, even on fountain-pen friendly paper.

Here is Bootlegger’s Sacrament on white Rhodia paper, from the Franklin Christoph with medium stub nib.

Bootlegger’s Sacrament looks fairly purple on Rhodia, but a muted and dusky purple, like you’d expect from J. Herbin Poussière de Lune. To me, the color looks luxurious. It’s more a color of candlelight winters than flowery summers. Though it also reminds me of grape skins, or at least the grape skins you might see in a painting.

It’s not super dark and saturated, but it has more saturation than other dusky purples. I would expect it to look even darker in a very wet pen.

Now here is Bootlegger’s Sacrament on cream-colored Tomoe River.

On this paper, the ink looks lighter, and browner. I don’t see any sheen from Bootlegger’s Sacrament with this pen, but there is nice shading.

Bootlegger’s Sacrament also performs very well on lower-quality paper that isn’t fountain-pen friendly. Here it is on Staples Sustainable Earth.

On the Staples paper, as well as my terrible copy paper, Bootlegger’s Sacrament had an impressive resistance to feathering, and just a little showthrough to the other side of the page. It’s a good ink for poor paper.

In terms of comparison inks, here is Bootlegger’s Sacrament in a lineup of some familiar dusky purples.

What’s so interesting about that swab comparisons to me is to see how more complex Bootlegger’s Sacrament is than the others. Certainly it’s more wine-like than the others. I think it’s also richer and more sophisticated, though those are nice purple inks.

The ink I find closest to Bootlegger’s Sacrament is KWZ Brown Pink. Here is a comparison of the swabs, one on one.

I reviewed the very popular KWZ Brown-Pink here, with plenty of writing samples.

I think both KWZ Brown-Pink and Papier Plume’s Bootlegger’s Sacrament are attractive, creative inks. KWZ Brown-Pink is more muted and less saturated. I also think it’s pinker. Bootlegger’s Sacrament is stronger, deeper and slightly easier to read. I think Bootlegger’s Sacrament inches closer to maroon or burgundy, too.

So there you have it. I like this one.

One final shoutout, to the presentation. I really love Papier Plume’s bottles, but the wax seal on the bottle of Bootlegger’s Sacrament is especially nice. It’s a creamy white wax, with a red underlay, and a darker flush that looks like gold. It makes the ink feel extra special. Which, it’s fair to say, being a limited edition, it is.

This ink will be sold by Papier Plume at the Chicago Pen Show, starting May 4, 2018, for $10. They will sell any bottles remaining after the show through their website. Papier Plume made 120 bottles, and said they intend this to be a one-time edition.