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Refillable lighters can provide years of service but only so long as they are properly-maintained. Part of that maintenance involves selecting the right fuel for the lighter. Cheap fuels may save some money in the short run but the cost is decreased performance and, if the lighter is being used to light cigars or pipes, the chance that the lighter will end up flavoring the tobacco.
There are several ways by which one determines which fuel is the best, depending on whether one is dealing with liquid or gaseous fuel. First and foremost, only fuel specifically designed to fuel lighters should be used.
Butane lighters function best when a lighter fluid which is as free of impurities as possible is used. There are brands that advertise themselves as having zero impurities and, if one has purchased a high-performance lighter, these fuels will ensure reliability. Impurities cause lighters to light with less reliability, to foul and, eventually, they may compromise the components that deliver gas to the jet. They will also cut down on the life of the sparking devices as they'll have to be tripped more to get a flame out of the device.
Liquid-fueled lighters are amazingly durable devices which are fairly forgiving where the quality of the fuel is used. So long as actual lighter fluid is being used, they offer good performance. However, the cheaper brands of lighter fluid, like their butane counterparts, tend to have more impurities. In liquid-fueled lighters, these impurities will be noticeable in the form of a foul odor when the lighter is sparked and in a distinctive and unpleasant taste on the first few puffs of any tobacco lit with the lighter. For the best results, use a fluid that advertises lending no flavor to tobacco. This is a mark of purity.
Lighting a cigar, for some smokers, should only be done in the most traditional way possible. This means either matches or cedar strips are employed. Matches obviously burn no fuel which may lend a taste to the cigar and cedar strips have a pleasant smell all their own. These methods, of course, lack the inherent convenience of a lighter. Given that lighting a cigar is a complex process, it may take several matches to get the stogie burning. Cedar strips have the disadvantage of being poor choices where portability is concerned and, of course, they can crumble in one's pockets.
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