help me identify this "ebony"

[Tai Fu]

I bought some ebony from a lumberyard... I didn't think much of it until I started cutting them, and it had a really subtle but pleasant aroma, very much unlike the ebonies I usually work with which has an acrid smell. I'm just wondering if I got african blackwood instead of gaboon ebony?

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[Mike Cutler]

It sure looks a lot like the piece of African Blackwood my wife "stole" from me, and is using as an impromptu shelf.
It also looks like it could be Macassar Ebony, if it's not african blackwood.
If the texture of the wood is smooth, slick, extremely tightly grained, and hard, I go with African Blackwood. If it has a more "open" grain structure, but still very tight, I go with Macassar Ebony.

[Tai Fu]

I can't say Macassar ebony, because Macassar ebony smells terrible when cut too (worse than Gaboon ebony in fact!!). This smells really nice, like perfume or something, but only very briefly when cut.

In fact I just confirmed the smell test. I took a dremel with a stone burr and hit the wood until it almost burns (to get the smell out). Both known sample of ebonies - Macassar and Gaboon smoked very quickly when hit with a stone burr, accompanied by very acrid smell of ebony. When this wood was hit with a burr however, it took longer for it to even slightly smoke, and it smelled totally different than both known samples of ebony... Burnt but with a fragrant smell that dissipates very quickly.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

In very limited experience I have with African blackwood, I noticed that the piece I had smelled good. Kind of like sassafras.