Actually, if you want the best throw, you want to focus it so that the hotspot projected is as close as possible to the size of your reflector.
This is how you collimate the beam for maximum throw, aka focused at infinity.
If you use a measuring device, they have a very small point where the light is measured, and since usually the measuring device is at only a few meters away you end up with converging light rays that will give you the highest intensity at that distance, but then they diverge farther away. Like this:
Just pretend the lens is the head of your flashlight.
As you can see, you will get the highest intensity at the focal point (where your measuring device is) but when you go past the focal point the light spreads out more giving you less throw.
Ideally, you want the light going straight forward:
