Not a handheld flashlight, but if you're still looking, I highly recommend the Black Diamond Spot found here here: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-headlamp/ . Super bright, but adjustable, durable, good spread and throw distance, and sips power at reduced brightness settings.

And related, I've had very good luck with just going with The Wirecutter's/The Sweethome's picks when I don't feel like poring through a bunch of reviews on things. As a warning, though, I'm normally immune to the desire to buy random crap I don't really need, but they seem to break through that for some reason.