Guevara Lux Single-Flame Lighter Review (1121D)

2026-07-04  Buy Again My Money

Verdict: Buy Again... in a heartbeat, and I'm probably buying its double-jet brother next. Twenty bucks, a year-plus of near-daily duty, roughly 70% of every cigar I've lit... and it has never once failed me. Not after a refill, not in wind, not ever. I bought this expecting a $20 lighter. I got my most-used piece of gear.

The Setup

• What it is: single-jet butane torch, all-metal body in a rugged, worn-look finish... flip-top lid, fuel window, adjustment dial on the bottom, and a curved top that doubles as a cigar rest
• Model: they call it the 1121D... and that's it, there's no real name and barely a description on their own site. No tank size listed, nothing
• Street price: $19.99 direct from Guevara (they show a $38 "list" price... ignore that, it's a $20 lighter), about the same on Amazon, which is where mine came from
• What I paid: right around $20 on Amazon, a little over a year ago... my own money, nobody sent me this
• In service: a year and change as my primary... it's lit somewhere around 70% of my cigars in that stretch

Why I Bought It

When I got into cigars the only lighter I had was the cheap plastic thing I grabbed at the local B&M with my first sticks. I wanted something nicer that wasn't a $100 commitment, I like metal, and the worn finish on this one caught my eye. I wasn't expecting much for $20. That's not how it went.

What It Gets Right

It just works. A year in, I have never had a misfire, a sputter, or a "click-click-nothing" moment... including right after refills and including in wind. For any lighter that would be respectable. For $20 it's kind of ridiculous.

Single-jet accuracy. I prefer a single torch even on bigger cigars... I just like the precision of putting the flame exactly where I want it. Yes, a single jet takes longer on a big ring gauge, but I mostly tap out at 56 anyway... the 60s don't feel right in my mouth, so I'm rarely paying that time penalty.

The button placement actually matters. The ignition sits on the front face, which puts your fingers in the middle of the body instead of up by the flame. Hold it down long enough to toast a thicker cigar and the top gets hot... your hand never does. A lot of lighters get this wrong.

Big tank, real fuel window. I top it off about once a month, and the window is honest... several cigars after a fill it still reads full until you tip it. And once you learn it, even when the window looks empty there's at least one cigar left in it, maybe two. I usually don't push it... one more smoke, bleed it, top it off.

The heft. This thing has real weight without being a brick. Throw it and a heavy cutter in a jeans pocket and you know they're there, but it's not a burden... and that weight buys you a rock-solid base. Set it down, lay your cigar across those wide top lips, and neither one moves... even in a breeze. When I'm at a buddy's place and don't love the community ashtray, my cigar rests on my own lighter. That feature gets used constantly.

Easy flame adjustment. Big dial on the bottom, easy to turn, easy to see what you're doing. Set it and forget it.

What I'd Change

Bigger sticks take a while. It's a single jet... physics is physics. On a 54-56 ring gauge you're holding that button a bit, and while I'd argue you still burn less total fuel than a triple or quad torch, you're standing there longer doing it. Guevara makes this in a double-jet version and I'll probably grab one for the bigger stuff... honestly, I'd love this exact lighter as a triple for those days.

Nobody's heard of them. I don't see this brand in any of the forums, I knew nothing about the company when I bought it... it's a Chinese accessories house, and their product page tells you almost nothing. That's not a knock on the lighter in my hand, it's a knock on how blind you're buying. This review exists partly because I couldn't find one when I was ordering.

A Year In

Wear marks, yes... heat marking on the top from long lights, yes... but you'd have to look closely to tell this thing has been in near-daily service for over a year. It's aging the way the worn finish promised it would. Everything still works exactly like it did out of the box.

Bottom Line

A $20 lighter with the manners of one that costs three times that: never fails, keeps your fingers off the heat, holds a month of fuel, tells you the truth about what's left, and doubles as the most stable cigar rest I own. If the rest of Guevara's stuff is built like this, they're the best-kept secret in cheap cigar gear... I just can't tell you that yet, because this is the only piece of theirs I've owned.

Would I buy it again? Yes... and the double-jet version is on my list, which is the strongest yes there is.

Best for: anyone who wants a dependable daily torch without babying a $100 lighter... and anyone who, like me, actually prefers a single flame.

Gear gets the same one-question treatment as the cigars... would I spend my own money on this again? This one's a yes.

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