Translating as Cinnamon Yellow, Scrittura Bolognese have provided us with a colour I would more associate with winter, partly due to the use of this spice in Europe over the darker months. One that should provide an inner warmth on a cold evening by the fire.

Initial Impressions

At first it was hard to identify what colour this could fall under. A dirty yellow, a brown tinged orange, a light brown, or even a lighter goldenrod. I would even suggest that it is not that far off a mustard. It is certainly unusual and may appeal to someone looking for an ink that is slightly different.

Swabbing Impressions

The first pass of the cotton bud with this ink is relatively light and does hint Giallo Cannella is slightly dry. Beyond that we see what I personally experienced from the different types of nib during the writing tests. There is very little difference between the third and fourth pass. It is interesting to note that with the dip pen you can see some real variation in the writing as I rotated the nib around.

Writing Impressions

On the Midori MD paper all of the pens wrote well. There was some visible variation in the darkness of the lines being laid down and if you look closely you will note there is a reasonable amount of shading, even with the wettest nib.

With the Oxford Optik paper having a smoother, glossier surface there appears to be less variation in depth between the different pens, however there is still a lot of shading.

Shading and Sheen

This ink exhibits a very nice level of shading. It adds a lot of character to the writing and may add appeal if this colour is one you enjoy.

This is not a sheening ink.

Flow and Consistency

This ink flows well and is easy to use. When inverting a converter I noticed that it did like to stick to one end and required a tap to drop down, however not much was needed and I suspect the action of writing could cause this to occur anyhow. I do not think this is an ink to cause any worry.

Drying Times

I would suggest Giallo Cannella is roughly average when it comes to drying times, maybe a little on the dry side. It is not one which will have you regularly reaching for the blotting paper.

Packaging

While I only have a sample vial of this ink you can see from the above picture that it normally comes in a four sided glass bottle which holds 90ml. Thought has obviously gone in to the design of these bottles with the view that the owners may keep them in boxes or draws for not only do the bottles neatly and safely stack upon one another but the cap comes with a label showing a good representation of the ink contained within. The front label also shows the colour, which could be useful once the bottle is near empty.

Swab Comparisons

I struggled to find many swab tests that would match this one. Most of the yellows I assumed would be close were actually just to bright and/or too light. I think the closest I found was the J. Herbin Ambre De Birmanie, which is similar though somewhat dryer.

Cost

At £35 for 90ml this is reasonably priced for a luxury ink. Slightly more expensive then Pelikan Edelstein, regular Montblanc, and Graf von Faber Castell, but also slightly cheaper than Pilot Iroshizuku and Sailor Manyo. Sailor Shikiori and non-base Montblanc inks are considerably more expensive.

Thing is, as with most 50ml+ size bottles, you are not going to run out of ink any time soon, in fact you will probably not be looking to replace a bottle of this size for years unless you are a prodigious writer with just a couple of bottles.

Views

One of the downsides to reviewing a range of inks is occasionally there will be a colour you are not partial to. This is the situation for me with many browns and yellows and so the Giallo Cannella falls in to that group. Having said that, it displays a great level of shading and if this dye based colour is for you then I suspect you will enjoy using it. There is the question over it’s similarity to the J. Herbin ink, which is considerably cheaper, however if you find that one to be too dry for your use then this may be the perfect answer.

Tools Used

• The Well Appointed Desk Col-o-ring ink testing cards.
• Midori MD A5 paper (cream page writing sample).
• Oxford Optik A5 paper (white page writing sample).
• Rhodia Dotpad No. 16 (drying tests).

Pens Used

• J. Herbin glass dip pen with the tip slightly smoothed (used the writing on the ink test cards).
• Franklin-Christoph 451 CDLI with a Mike Masuyama Needlepoint steel nib.
• OMAS 360 GM with a broad 18k gold nib.
• Franklin-Christoph 19 ‘1911’ with a broad SIG steel nib.
• Pelikan Pelikano with a starter/A steel nib (also used for the drying test and writing in the pocket book).