
Monteverde Ocean Noir Ink Bottle

I saw a comment on here from user @SRT, who said that he will not be buying this ink again as his bottle smelled like “rotten eggs.” Well, back in 2019, Yair Greenberg, the founder & CEO of Yafa, the parent company that makes Monteverde inks, acknowledged this issue and got ahead of it. Even though this primarily only affected those inks manufactured in late-2018, I was VERY impressed in exactly how he took care of it, starting with a fully transparent answer.
Basically, various Monteverde inks manufactured during this period were “contaminated” in production. Mr. Greenberg has invested significant funds to correct the problem by backing both new processes and new equipment that will prevent future occurrences. What probably surprised me most was that a robust program was created to replace any and all contaminated ink bottles, even if they were free with a purchase! They will replace it at no cost with any color Monteverde ink of your choice!
I must commend Mr. Greenberg’s honesty and values in immediately taking full responsibility, not to mention setting aside significant funds to actually do something about this! It simply speaks to me how much he genuinely cares that his customers are completely satisfied. If I wasn’t already a fan of Monteverde products, this would convince me to give them a try. Provided the management continues to navigate Yafa in this direction, I will surely be a customer for life!
Here’s Mr. Greenberg’s quote on how to obtain your replacement bottle in the event that you received a contaminated one:
“If anyone believes they have a bad bottle (even if it was given free with purchase), we ask you to please email scottfox{at}yafa{dot}com and they will replace it at no cost with any color Monteverde ink of your choice."
Finally, here’s the page that made me first aware of this issue:
https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/27608-Announcement-Contaminated-Monteverde-Inks?p=261663#post261663
Stay safe. Be well.
~ Jay
I use this as my daily ink at work. Dark enough to be professional but with enough shading with a broad nib to have a little flair.
Of the four shades of blue ink I've purchased over the past several months, this is definitely my favorite, both in color, smoothness, and in drying time (i.e. lefty-friendly). However, the stuff smells so bad, like rotten eggs, that I hate to open the bottle in a small room unless I can keep a window open. This alone is enough to make me skip purchasing this one again in the future.
Nice ink, although I don’t think I’d order a full bottle because it’s a little too dark for me.