review: sailor jentle grenade

We're taking a peek at one of my favorite inks!

Sailor Jentle Grenade was part of the company's "original" run of inks. The one before Shikiori, except that it was re-released, and—listen, all you need to know is that you can still get it, but there was a little while where you couldn't.

"Grenade" in this context refers to the French term, which means pomegranate. And this is certainly a pomegranate color: it's a purpley color that skews more red.

For information on how I do my reviews, please visit my policy page.

I wrote this review out a while ago. Phew, my handwriting sure has changed. Anyway, the ink has a little bit of water resistance. It definitely isn't a lot, but that might be okay with you.

It takes a long while to dry. It was almost there by the 45 second mark on Kokuyo MIO paper, and completely dry by the 60 second mark.

It has a little bit of shading and sheen on this paper, but of course it shines on Tomoe River.

There's plenty of green-gold sheen and shading here. I love this ink on less absorbent papers.

I compare it here to some other colors in the deep-red category. By the way, this image was tough to color correct, but I think I got it pretty close. TAG Kyo no Oto Adzukiiro is fairly cloes, though it leans cooler and more purple. Diamine Rustic Brown is—well, brown. Robert Oster Signature Plumbnut is much more pink. Colorverse Dark Energy is less saturated. Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo is very clearly a purple.

I had this ink in my Lamy Al-Star with a 1.1 mm nib, and it really does shine in broader and wetter pens. It'd look great in a music nib or another wide stub. I had no issues at all, and it's a big thumbs up from me.

I love Sailor Jentle Grenade. When Sailor discontinued it, I was really bummed. I'm glad they brought it back, though I'm a little peeved about the price hike on it. It's usually a bit more expensive. Even with the revamp of Sailor's ink lines, I'm pretty sure Grenade still exists and hasn't been discontinued. It's still pretty difficult to find, but if you can get a bottle, I highly recommend it.

Where to buy

• Pen Chalet: bottle / sample
• Wonder Pens: bottle + sample