Nice review and a very nice smoke!
I will have to smoke the Epernay line again because the ECCJs seem to taste almost exactly like the Illusione Epernay Le Ferme IMO (the Le Ferme is the only one I've had from the Epernay line).
I know the Epernay line was designed from the original ECCJ but I expected it to have a bit of a different flavor if not a small change to the blend...
I will try to do a taste test in the near future and see if I can pick up some different nuances or if they truly are the same to my palate.