{"product_id":"lennon-tool-bar-winter-tonics-4-mulled-wine-4ml-fountain-pen-ink-sample","title":"Lennon Tool Bar Winter Tonics #4 Mulled Wine - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHue: \u003c\/strong\u003eA deep wine red-magenta that darkens to near-black where it pools. Lennon Tool Bar and stockists describe it as a dark, warm spiced red. My swatches read cooler and more magenta than that suggests — the mid-tones sit closer to berry\/fuchsia than to a warm brick red, and the deepest areas go charcoal-black rather than staying red. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShading:\u003c\/strong\u003e Strong. The writing sample moves from light magenta on thin strokes to near-black at stroke ends, and the drops separate visibly into magenta and dark grey-black zones — chromatic separation as much as shading. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSheen:\u003c\/strong\u003e None. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShimmer:\u003c\/strong\u003e None. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlow: \u003c\/strong\u003eMedium. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe interesting bit:\u003c\/strong\u003e Lennon Tool Bar was founded in 2014 in Tamsui, Taiwan, and began life in indigo dyeing — a trade that thrived a century ago when Taiwan exported large quantities of \"doroai,\" the raw colorant material, to Japan. The inks came later, as a way of putting traditional dye colours into people's pens. Mulled Wine (熱紅酒, literally \"hot red wine\") is from the 2025 Winter Limited collection, Winter Tonics in Taiwan Vol. 4 (冬令進補 第四版), named for the Taiwanese practice of eating warming tonic foods through winter. The other three in the set are Pumpkin Soup, Peeled Chili Pepper and Taro Sago — which makes mulled wine the European guest at a very Taiwanese table. This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle. Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper. I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lennon Tool Bar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57367578542406,"sku":null,"price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1020\/9696\/1862\/files\/LennonToolBar-MulledWine3.jpg?v=1789406314","url":"https:\/\/thepensmuggler.co.uk\/products\/lennon-tool-bar-winter-tonics-4-mulled-wine-4ml-fountain-pen-ink-sample","provider":"The Pen Smuggler","version":"1.0","type":"link"}