I end up pulling the smoke in all over. Sometimes it's just in my lips, others it is just behind the teeth, and still yet, sometimes it's right in front of my molars. Only thing I have ever burned in my mouth is my tongue, and possibly the roof of my mouth (Damn P-Lip). It's very easy to allow the smoke to get too hot in a pipe with minimum cake, or at least that's my experience. My pre-carbonized cobs tend to smoke just like a fresh briar that has no cake, hot and wet; whereas cobs without the coating tend to be better smokers from the beginning. Sorry if I'm giving you redundant information, just trying to troubleshoot with you.