There is provided a heated aerosol-generating article for use with an aerosol-generating device having a heating element, the heated aerosol-generating article including an aerosol-forming substrate and a breachable air-flow barrier assembled within a wrapper to form a rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from the mouth end, in which the breachable air-flow barrier is positioned to substantially prevent air being drawn through the aerosol-forming substrate when a user draws on the mouth end of the rod, and in which the aerosol-forming substrate comprises a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material.