Today, we review the Palió Veneto lighter, a version packaged with the massive Asylum Megalophobia cigar. The Palió Veneto lighter is a Quad Jet model that was introduced by Quality Importers Trading Company in 2024. The Palió line represents Quality Importers’ value offering for cutters and lighters. This lighter measures five inches in length and features a substantial fuel tank. Its four jets produce an elongated, diamond-shaped flame. According to Quality Importers, this lighter is capable of igniting up to 150 cigars. In addition to its primary function, the lighter can also be utilized as a table lighter. While not intended for pocket use, it features a lanyard attachment for improved portability.
Quality Importers has a facility known as the Swag Bunker. The Swag Bunker helps cigar manufacturers, retailers, lounges, and event organizers create customized and personalized cigar accessories. In this case, the Palió Veneto was customized for CLE Cigar Company’s Asylum Megalophobia cigar branding. The Asylum Megalophobia is a massive 134 x 13 cigar. It is sold in boxes of two, and each set includes a customized, branded Megalophobia Palió Veneto lighter.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Dimensions 5.00″ (height) x 1.25″ (width)
- Type: Quad-Flame
- Color: Blue
- Finish: Gunmetal
- Price: $29.99 (Purchased without Customizations), $250.00 if you buy the two-cigar Megalophobia set
- Source: Purchased
- Additional Features
- Translucent Fuel Tank
- Large Fuel Adjustment Wheel
- Cigar Rest
- Lanyard Loop Holes (Lanyard not included)
The Veneto lighter is available in five translucent colors, mainly on the fuel tank, and features a gunmetal finish.
- Black
- Clear
- Red
- Green
- Blue
The Veneto lighter included in the Asylum Megalophobia box was the blue one.
EVALUATION
Accessory Scoring is based on a ten-point system. We look at four areas with accessory scoring:
- Appearance (2 points)
- Setup/Usage (3 points)
- Durability/Long Term Use (2 points)
- Impressions and Intangibles: How well does it do as advertised (3 points)
Evaluation Period: December 1, 2026, through July 15, 2026. It was not used daily, but it was used at least once, if not twice, a week during this period.
Appearance
Color and Finish
First up, I really love the deep blue sea color of this lighter with the gunmetal accents. I also love that the blue is translucent (it lets you see how much fuel is in the tank). The ignition switch has a textured gunmetal finish. The back of the lighter had a warning label, which I didn’t remove.
The side of the lighter is curved and textured. This made for good ergonomics when gripping it.
Swag Bunker Personalization
There are three customizations imprinted on this lighter from the Swag Bunker:
- The Megalophobia “Enough is Enough” icon with “134 x 13” below it near the top of the lighter on the gunmetal section.
- “Enough is Enough” is a slogan used by Asylum Cigars when they introduced the massive Megalophobia cigar. When Aganorsa Leaf released its 100 x 10, Asylum co-owner Tom Lazuka was determined to ensure Asylum held the record and decided to take it to the next level with the 134 x 13 Megalophobia. The slogan “Enough is Enough” was a light-hearted attempt by Asylum to end the battle over who would have the largest cigar.
- The Asylum Megalophobia logo is on the blue translucent tank on the front of the lighter
- The text “Enough is Enough ” is on the back of the lighter.
Of the three customizations, the one on the gunmetal section looks the most natural to me.
Fuel Adjustment Dial
The bottom of the lighter has a large, easy-to-read fuel adjustment dial. It has a valve for refilling the lighter.
Cigar Rest
This is the protective cap that covers the fuel jets. The rest is textured. It is beveled to hold your cigar in place.
Fuel Jets
Opening the protective cap reveals the four jets.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, the Veneto is a nice-looking lighter. I really liked the gunmetal accents. The Swag Bunker customizations do not overwhelm the lighter’s appearance and complement it nicely.
Score: 1.50 out of 2.00 points
Setup/Usage
Igniting
The Veneto is a very simple lighter to use. After filling the lighter with butane, flip the top open (easiest with your thumb), press the ignition, and you are ready to use it.
To extinguish the flame, you release the trigger.
Toasting and touchups
The four jet flames make this lighter ideal for igniting large cigars. One reason it was included in the Megalophobia collection is to easily light the massive 134-ring-gauge cigar. Even a quad-jet lighter like the Veneto struggles to ignite such a large cigar effectively. However, this lighter works well for cigars in the 60- to 70-ring gauge range. I would advise against using it for anything under a 46-ring gauge, as the flame is too powerful for smaller sizes.
The fact that the flames are angled into a diamond shape does facilitate touchups. At the same time, I still recommend using the side of the diamond flame to touchup a cigar.
Filling/Refilling
The refilling process is relatively straightforward: insert the nozzle of your butane refill canister into the valve at the bottom of the lighter and press down for a few seconds. Given that this is a big tank, you will need to repeat this at least a couple of dozen times to fill it. I also recommend bleeding this lighter when refilling to purge any gas and air completely. The Cigar Prop Butane Lighter Air Bleed Tool is a great option here.
Flame Adjustment
This couldn’t be easier. The fact that this has a nice, big wheel makes this easy to do. The arrows on the wheel indicate which way to dial.
Cigar Rest
Very simple to do. Just rest your cigar on the beveled cap.
Lanyard Holes
I found that threading the lanyard was a bit of a chore. Connecting the lanyard rope was not as easy as expected because the holes were pretty small.
The lanyard holes are slightly off-center, so the lighter will hang upside down and to the side when worn around the neck.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, the Veneto was quite easy to use right from the start. It’s simple to operate, fill, and adjust the flame. The only slightly tricky part was the lanyard piece, but it doesn’t significantly affect the overall score.
Score: 2.50 out of 3.00 points
Durability/Long Term Use
First up, I was really impressed with the consistency of the Veneto. I used this on an average of once or twice a week for the better part of seven months. There was an occasional misfire when the lighter failed to ignite, but overall it delivered good, consistent performance.
The lighter’s closure helps keep the jets clean and reduces the likelihood of clogging. I still recommend periodically using compressed air to maintain the jets proactively. I’m a little concerned that, over time, the protective cap will detach from the lighter.
As mentioned, I recommend using a lighter bleeding tool. I didn’t test this lighter without bleeding it, but bleeding it seemed like good practice.
Finally, the one thing I am concerned about is dropping this lighter. I don’t purposely test a lighter by dropping it, but I get the impression that if this lighter falls on a hard surface, it could easily be damaged. I can’t ding this lighter for a use case I didn’t use it for, but it’s something I’m still conscious of.
Score: 1.50 out of 2.00 points
Impressions and Intangibles
Here are some overall impressions, including some positives and negatives:
Positives
- Igniting the Veneto couldn’t be easier—press the ignition switch down while holding the lighter straight up.
- This lighter performed consistently well with each use. As mentioned, there were very few misfires during 7 months of regular use.
- The translucent fuel tank makes it easy to determine your fuel level. Much better than those small fuel gauge indicators on many lighters.
- I like the fact that it’s easy to adjust the flame with the wheel. You don’t need any special tool to do it.
- The diamond-shaped flame is ideal for touchups.
- The lighter did work on the massive 134-ring-gauge Asylum Megalophobia, but keep in mind that this vitola is an anomaly among cigar sizes. The lighter was not designed specifically for the Megalophobia, but it still will work. It will just take a while to toast it. For cigars in the 50-90 ring gauge range, this lighter works well.
- The cigar rest was effective for 70-ring cigars. I didn’t try it with 80-ring ones, but it likely would have accommodated them.
- The practicality and fashionability of wearing a large lighter as a neck accessory is uncertain; however, its functionality may justify such a choice.
- While the lanyard option certainly enhances portability, I still believe this lighter is better suited for use as a table lighter.
Negatives
- Quality Importers says you can light up to 150 cigars with this. I don’t think that number included touchups. When factoring in several touchups on a cigar, the number becomes closer to 50. For me so far, this lighter has been able to deliver 20 to 25 cigars, igniting and touching up.
- Since this is a big tank, you will need a lot of fuel.
- This lighter’s flame didn’t stand up well to the wind test. A good wind will just about extinguish this flame (more on that below)
- While the lighter will light up cigars under a 50 ring gauge, you will need to watch for scorching.
- The top of the lighter will get hotter the longer it is lit.
- As mentioned, putting the lanyard string through the holes was a pain in the neck. The holes could have been bigger. On top of that, I would have preferred the holes to be positioned so that the front and back of the lighter would be better displayed. I would also have liked it if the lighter were not upside down.
Wind Test
One important point to note is that this lighter was never sold as having a wind-resistant flame. We conducted a wind test on the lighter using a portable air conditioning unit, and the flame didn’t perform well. As a result, I’m uncertain about its practicality for outdoor use.
Overall Thoughts
In the end, while not perfect, the positives outweighed the negatives.
Score: 2.50 out of 3.00 points
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
While this lighter came with the Megalophobia, I am assessing the Veneto as a standalone item. The only real difference is the personalization/customization done by the Swag Bunker.
For $29.99, the Palió Veneto delivers a consistent working lighter with a large fuel tank. As mentioned, I would take the ability to light up to 150 cigars with a grain of salt because I don’t believe that includes using the lighter for touchups. It’s a lighter that definitely works well on a big cigar, and it was certainly a nice bonus here. While I used this lighter for seven months, I am curious to see whether it continues to perform at the same level beyond that period. Things like the cigar rest and lanyard option are nice, but I’m unsure how practical they are. In the end, for $29.99, this lighter punches well above its weight class and is certainly a great addition to your collection.
Summary
| Appearance (2) | 1.50 |
| Setup/Usage (3) | 2.50 |
| Durability/Long Term Use (2) | 1.50 |
| Impressions and Intangibles (3) | 2.50 |
| Total (10) | 8.00 |
Score: 8.00 (out of 10 points)
Value: Above Average
Photo/Video Credits: Cigar Coop
