Route 54 Motor Oil - Repeating Chrissy's Cigar Experiment

[bobje]

Like many people, I love the idea of Sailor Cigar from the Pen & Message shop in Kobe, Japan, but am exhausted by the idea of finagling a way to obtain it. The legend and scarcity have grown so large as to make one consider pitching a tent on the sidewalk outside the shop on Kitanagasadori and waiting, like fans of a new iPhone. But this is an ink revolt, and we are not going to do that. The work of Chrissy, Tas, dcpritch and others inspires us all to mix an ink that matches the color of the world's best cigars, rolled from tobacco grown in Vuelta Abajo, Cuba. I did not succeed in my first attempt, but it was not a failure, either. This formulation is a derivation of Chrissy's work, which uses a single-dye permanent blue, a yellowish-green, a golden brown, and a rust-like orangy red. The result closely resembles Stipula verde muschiato.

 

When we succeed, we shall call our ink "Vuelta Abajo." This humble first attempt in our revolution, however, is "Route 54 Motor Oil."

 

Draft 1.5 of the New Cigar Manifesto

 

1 part Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

1 part Diamine sepia

1 part Diamine evergreen

1 part Diamine terra cotta

 

 

Writing sample with Pilot Plumix italic nib on Staples 32-pound ivory laser paper.

 

[migo984]

Hmmmm. As I commented with previous mixes - close but no cigar :-) Seems rather flat and monochromatic when compared to the genuine article. Perhaps it's your photo/scan that doesn't do it justice? Maybe closer to Rikyu-cha. Does it have any of the Cigar sheen?

 

I still think the $25 that Cigar cost me for each of my bottles to be money very well spent.

[Chrissy]

That's a very good first effort Bob. I have swab tests of Cigar to copy from, and they have a sort of olive green halo effect around a browner centre. My copy now does that, and it's chroma test is very similar to the Cigar version.

 

Have you tried a chroma test to see the comparison? If you want any swab tests of Cigar to copy please PM me and I'll send you some.

 

I'm happy I also saved $40. Nor did I have to do business with the Pen & Message employee who said he/she could only help me to fill in an order form, using the Japanese address I have, if I paid by Bank Transfer.

[bobje]

If this first attempt resembles both rikyu cha and verde muschiato, I am declaring victory.

 

The olive green halo around a brown center sounds terrific. What I'm getting is dark edges around a lighter core.

[Piper 987]

The name "Route 54 Motor Oil" alone deserves praise!!

[bobje]

College Day Candela

 

The scan in this post represents another step in the evolution toward "Vuelta Abajo," a grail-like, color-shifting, sheening olive/green/brown ink based on superior Cuban tobacco. This mix includes

 

- 1 part Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

- 1 part Diamine Meadow

- 1 part Diamine Burnt Sienna

- 1 part Akkerman No. 22 hopjesbruin (otherwise known as Diamine Sepia)

 

This blend is called "College Day Candela" because today and tomorrow are college-selection days for high school seniors in the United States, and because the candela is a type of cigar with an olive-green wrapper. Based on Chrissy's work, Candela is slightly greener and lighter than her sample, and is very close to Noodler's Burma Road Brown. The labels on the right-hand side of this scan are written with Chrissy's Cigar Blend. The writing sample underneath the swab tests is written with Candela. The Candela blend exhibits a color-shifting quality, starting as a brighter green and then drying to a browner, olive green. This is reported to be a characteristic of Pen & Message Cigar. I'm not detecting sheen in the Candela blend.

 

[Chrissy]

I like the way you have the colour shift quality. Congratulations on that achievement.

 

I currently make my Cigar copy from Noodler's Bad Blue Heron, Diamine Terracotta and Diamine Jade Green plus I add in a bit of Diamine Golden Brown if it gets too green.

 

However, I like Stipula Musk Green and Noodler's Burma Road Brown just as much, so I'm happy to no longer bother about buying the Sailor version that Sailor prefer to make available only for the Japanese market.

 

I prefer to give my money to ink makers who make their inks available to everyone.

[migo984]

Cigar was actually readily available previously, it's just that no-one was that interested at the time. Two years ago I easily bought several bottles. The difficulty in finding supplies was originally down to the bottle manufacturer going belly up, not Sailor's deliberate marketing.

 

Most ink makers these days produce limited availability inks that aren't easily "available to everyone", for example Montblanc , whose inks I know people here seek, just like Sailor's.

[Barkingpig]

Cigar was actually readily available previously, it's just that no-one was that interested at the time. Two years ago I easily bought several bottles. The difficulty in finding supplies was originally down to the bottle manufacturer going belly up, not Sailor's deliberate marketing.

 

Most ink makers these days produce limited availability inks that aren't easily "available to everyone", for example Montblanc , whose inks I know people here seek, just like Sailor's.

 

 

And sadly from the posts I have read also LAMY who does not market their special edition inks in most of Europe.

[migo984]

And sadly from the posts I have read also LAMY who does not market their special edition inks in most of Europe.

 

Yes, that's right. Very few ink manufacturers can resist using the Limited Edition hook.

 

Edit: it's only the LE ink in bottles - the ink is available across Europe in cartridges.

Edited May 1, 2016 by migo984

[bobje]

Isn't it great to be a pen and ink consumer in 2016? Tons of choices available, prices, suppliers, shipping options. If you don't find what you want, you can find friends on FPN and make it yourself, or team up with them to ship it where you want. In this case, Chrissy's recommendation to use a permanent single-dye blue ink is one of the keys.

[migo984]

Isn't it great to be a pen and ink consumer in 2016? Tons of choices available, prices, suppliers, shipping options. If you don't find what you want, you can find friends on FPN and make it yourself, or team up with them to ship it where you want. In this case, Chrissy's recommendation to use a permanent single-dye blue ink is one of the keys.

Could you show your latest blend next to Cigar? It looks very green to me, but that may be my monitor. I haven't found anything close enough yet, for sheen or behaviour, apart from Rikyu-cha, which is very similar indeed.

 

Edited for spelling

Edited May 1, 2016 by migo984

[bobje]

Migo,

this is a great comparison question, but I don't have samples of Pen & Message Cigar. I'm not so much interested in duplicating P&M Cigar, but instead blending another shade of seasoned-tobacco-color ink. There are many shades of tobacco and cigars -- the slightly green candela among them -- and I live in a part of the United States, North Carolina, with a long tobacco heritage. The next blend in this journey toward "vuelta abajo" may be named after something closer to home.

[fountainpagan]

I must say I like both your colours, even if they are not cigar.

 

Your Candela Day is very very close to Herbin's Vert Empire

 

Love the name Route 54 Motor Oil.

[bobje]

Thanks fountainpagan. I don't have Vert Empire, and the online photos I've seen make it definitely look like green. Candela is more like a grayish-brownish martini olive.

[Chrissy]

Cigar was actually readily available previously, it's just that no-one was that interested at the time. Two years ago I easily bought several bottles. The difficulty in finding supplies was originally down to the bottle manufacturer going belly up, not Sailor's deliberate marketing.

 

Most ink makers these days produce limited availability inks that aren't easily "available to everyone", for example Montblanc , whose inks I know people here seek, just like Sailor's.

 

 

Pen & Message Cigar ink is only made by Sailor Japan for Pen & Message, and it is only available for domestic shipping. Sailor Japan won't ship it Internationally to Sailor Distributors and nor will Pen & Message.

 

Sailor Japan doesn't supply any of their 'specially manufactured inks' (Pen & Message, Kingdom Note, Maruzen, Kobe, Bung Box - to name but a few) to their 'International' distributors. They are all only made available within Japan. I know that Bung Box makes some of their inks available to International sources, but Sailor Japan doesn't supply anyone but Bung Box with Bung Box labelled inks. So these inks are effectively made as Japan only inks.

 

This information was given to me by both Sailor Japan and the CEO of Sailor UK. If they are wrong I will happily pass on the correct information.

 

The fact that these inks were originally supplied in vase shaped bottles, that were discontinued, has nothing to do with the fact that they aren't supplied Internationally by Sailor.

 

Montblanc however, regularly ship their LE inks worldwide so they are available to everyone. They aren't just manufactured for availability within Germany.

[Chrissy]

Could you show your latest blend next to Cigar? It looks very green to me, but that may be my monitor. I haven't found anything close enough yet, for sheen or behaviour, apart from Rikyu-cha, which is very similar indeed.

 

Edited for spelling

 

 

There are many people who say that Sailor Rikyu-cha and Sailor Pen & Message Cigar are identical.

 

I've never tried Rikyu-cha. Since that ink was recently re-issued by Sailor for the Japanese market, and wasn't sent to International distributors, I can't comment on whether or not that is true. But when Bob made his first Cigar copy, you commented that it looked closer to Sailor Rikyu-cha, so I can only assume that it does.

[Prithwijit]

Fantastic effort Bob,

 

Have you considered trying out the Daytone Olive Brown? I have a feeling that you might like the colour

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

[Tas]

Like many people, I love the idea of Sailor Cigar from the Pen & Message shop in Kobe, Japan, but am exhausted by the idea of finagling a way to obtain it. The legend and scarcity have grown so large as to make one consider pitching a tent on the sidewalk outside the shop on Kitanagasadori and waiting, like fans of a new iPhone. But this is an ink revolt, and we are not going to do that. The work of Chrissy, Tas, dcpritch and others inspires us all to mix an ink that matches the color of the world's best cigars, rolled from tobacco grown in Vuelta Abajo, Cuba. I did not succeed in my first attempt, but it was not a failure, either. This formulation is a derivation of Chrissy's work, which uses a single-dye permanent blue, a yellowish-green, a golden brown, and a rust-like orangy red. The result closely resembles Stipula verde muschiato.

 

When we succeed, we shall call our ink "Vuelta Abajo." This humble first attempt in our revolution, however, is "Route 54 Motor Oil."

 

Draft 1.5 of the New Cigar Manifesto

 

1 part Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

1 part Diamine sepia

1 part Diamine evergreen

1 part Diamine terra cotta

 

 

Writing sample with Pilot Plumix italic nib on Staples 32-pound ivory laser paper.

 

 

I like this colour. Congratulations. That swab bottom right looks divine.

I spent ages mixing up something similar and calling it Leonardo, after visiting The British Library and seeing first hand some of Leonardo Da Vinci's sketch books.

 

The more I use fountain pens the more I realise a major part of their charm is their subtle nuances.

The almost indiscernible line width variation, the subtle shading in the written words and the stealthy nature of some inks that somehow appear black but are not - almost in a deja vu feeling kind of way.

 

I'm embarrassed to admit that my Cigar Mix was lot more complicated

 

2 Waterman Inspired Blue

2 Diamine Macassar (or equivalent)

2 R&K Helianthus

2 Ancient Copper

1 Zhivago

1 Diamine Emerald

9 Private Reserve Grey Flannel

Then, I took six parts of this mix and added 1 part Kiowa Pecan.

 

It was good but that teensy weensy subtlety in the wash and shade was missing. I had to buy a bottle. That was that.

 

Mad thing is, I'm kind of over it. (I almost sold my bottle )

KWZI Hunter Green is my new Sailor Cigar but it was a lovely journey.

 

I love seeing members have a go a t mixing. It's sooo much fun.

 

Thanks for sharing Bob.

 

Happy Greek Easter !

 

 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks fountainpagan. I don't have Vert Empire, and the online photos I've seen make it definitely look like green. Candela is more like a grayish-brownish martini olive.

 

I have a bottle of Vert Empire. It goes down green, but it's not overly lightfast, and eventually fades to a much more murky color. I suspect the problem is with whatever the green dye component is -- green is a notoriously fugitive dye (a lot of the time, at least before the advent of modern aniline dyes, you got green fabric from over-dyeing: i.e., start with a stable yellow, and then over-dye with woad or indigo).

My mother-in-law has an old quilt made by some ancestor of hers in (probably) the 1830s, which she showed me once a long time ago. I don't know what the pattern is -- she called it "Stewart Rose" but I've never been able to find any quilt block called that. Anyway, the quilt block is red flowers with green leaves and stems on a white background -- except that in a lot of the quilt the green has eaten through the fabric over the years.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth