Yes, I get quite some tonguebite cause I am puffing extra hard to get the pipe tobacco going.The comments above about draft holes and the drying and packing you have experiemented with all leave this a bit of mystery to me still. However, it sure seems too moist to me still. It probably is a humectant on your aromatic too, thus drying is tough, and then when using it well dried you lose a bunch of flavorSt. Bruno or Erinmore aromatics burn a lot better for me than many of the heavily flavored aros. I love Edward G. Robinson's and it burns better for me than 30+jars of aromatics I have sampled too.
I imagine you are getting some tongue bite from all this trying to keep it lit too.
What are you smoking?
It's Mac Baren - Amphora Special Reserve No.8