Freshly shredded tobacco and hot smoke: no tongue burn, but why did it happen?

[msbqq]

So I made a post about shredding whole leaf tobacco (mainly regarding cigar leaf, but I also have some burley and virginia) about a week ago. Last night was my first ever pipe smoke:
Using the leaf only shredder I shredded a mild cigar filler (I know I know, but the flavor wasn’t the issue). The flavor is very similar to a cigar, but the heat isn’t! I used a wooden stick to light the pipe and when I did it was extremely hot, not on my tongue though.... so any ideas on why the heat so so intense
Below were some thoughts I had during/after the smoke:
1) The pipe went out very fast as well
2) The tobacco may have been too dry, when shredding it there was some dust caused
3) I was worried about packing it too tight and the resistance was between sucking air and sucking soda out of a straw.
4) The tobacco consistency was mostly uniform in ~1mm thickness, some stands were quite long and some weren’t.
I realize I may have “a better smoke” using a different leaf, but I’d nonetheless like to try to get a good technique down before diving into the particulars of taste (which as stated above wasn’t bad..)
Thanks
-M.

 

[papawhisky]

The nice thing about making your own tobacco from whole leaf is that there are no chemicals (humicants) added like the pipe blends that you buy. However, because of this they do tend to smoke slightly different, and in my experience, slightly hotter unless add a little moisture prior to smoking. I tend to keep my home blends very dry to prevent mold, as again, no chemicals to prevent it. If it is burning too hot you may want to try humidifying a bowl's worth in a mason jar by adding a slightly moistened paper towel, etc for 30 minutes and see if that helps. Also, try packing tighter, and smoking slower, than you would for a store blend.
Also, with cigar tobacco, the position the leaf comes from on the plant will affect it's burning qualities, with volado and seco burning best, then slower burning, and stronger, as you go up (viso and ligero).

 

[davek]

Whole leaf shredded and in storage in a jar will mold quickly if you keep it in anything but low case (pretty dry). I moisten up a few days worth at a time myself.
Another way to make it burn a little more slowly is to press it. I don't have a shredder so I roll fairly moist leaf into "cigars" as tightly as I can, then I press those between two plates or boards in a vise overnight. Then I dice it up before smoking… the pressed chunks burn more slowly. The pressing will also marry flavors if you are using two types of leaf.

 

[msbqq]

Thanks guys!
I only shredded a couple days at once and am keeping it in a ziplock with little air, and the other leaves in the package they came in. Tonight I’ll try the paper towel trick and try packing it tighter.