Freebases, Salts, and HCl

[P Schwangles]

I have a chemistry question: I took 50mg of a freebase material (a-fent) here that I wanted to convert to a salt. I have gone the other direction before (salt to base) successfully a handful of times, but never base to salt. I used HCl, partly because I have heard that the excess will evaporate off, so I didn't need to worry about exact measurements (quite certain the couple drops of 12M HCl I used was excessive). A day later, the water has mostly evaporated, leaving behind some crystal residue, as I expected. However, there are a few thicker, more viscous globs that are not drying out like I would expect. Why could this be??? I put the end of a chopstick in there and tasted it, and it is definitely very acidic! Why is the excess acidity sticking around, and why is there thick, honey-like liquid in there? Thanks guys!
p.s. Sorry - I have seen plenty of posts like this scattered around forums, but I didn't know where this post should go. It seemed like more of a general chem question than one specific to the compound I'm experimenting with, but I could be wrong.

 

[P Schwangles]

I added 25 mg more of the base with a couple more drops of water and let it sit for a few more hours and the viscous anomaly seemed to resolve itself. My best guess is that HCl is so hydrophilic/hygroscopic that the excess was holding onto water and making it evaporate from the dish slower....