Hi there,

A long bright ray is usually known in the flashlight world as "throw".

If you want excellent "throwers" look for Inovas, they have very tight small spot that can reach a lot of distance.
Inova T3 and T4 are good examples using C123.
An X1 uses a single AA but is not very powerful.
The Streamlight polyprop AA has a good throw but uses 4AAs

If you want a single Led-based AA light I would recommend you a Fenix L1P, with just one AA cell it has a lot of output.

In any case you can refine your needs saying what kind of price range, size and features you want and we'll be able to offer you better choices.