Legal Proceedings (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 case	Feb. 09, 2012 LegalMatter	Nov. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 Indemnification Obligations [Member] LegalMatter	Feb. 09, 2012 Tobacco Related Antitrust Cases [Member] States LegalMatter	Feb. 28, 2008 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] LegalMatter	Dec. 31, 2011 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case LegalMatter	Dec. 31, 2006 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] LegalMatter Employee	Feb. 09, 2012 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case LegalMatter Trial	Dec. 31, 2009 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Claims	Dec. 31, 2010 Conventional Product Liability Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Conventional Product Liability Cases [Member] Trial LegalMatter	Sep. 30, 2011 Conventional Product Liability Cases [Member] Trial	Dec. 31, 2009 Conventional Product Liability Cases [Member] LegalMatter Trial	Feb. 09, 2012 West Virginia Individual Personal Injury Cases [Member] Plaintiffs LegalMatter Trial	Sep. 30, 2000 West Virginia Individual Personal Injury Cases [Member] case	Dec. 31, 2010 Flight Attendant Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Flight Attendant Cases [Member] LegalMatter case Plaintiffs Trial	Aug. 31, 2011 Class Action Cases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2007 Class Action Cases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class Action Cases [Member] LegalMatter	Feb. 09, 2012 Class Action Cases [Member] case LegalMatter	Feb. 28, 2007 Class Action Cases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2006 Class Action Cases [Member]	May 31, 2004 Class Action Cases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class Action Cases [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class Action Cases [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Reimbursement Cases [Member] States	Dec. 31, 2010 Reimbursement Cases [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Reimbursement Cases [Member] States	Dec. 31, 2010 Reimbursement Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Reimbursement Cases [Member] LegalMatter Hospitals	Nov. 23, 1998 Reimbursement Cases [Member] States	Feb. 09, 2012 Filter Cases [Member] LegalMatter Trial	Feb. 09, 2012 Mrozek V. Lorillard Tobacco Company [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Tullo V. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Sulcer V. Lorillard Tobacco Company [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Jewett V. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Weingart V. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Feb. 09, 2012 Sury v. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]
Legal Proceedings (Textual) [Abstract]
Cases pending against cigarette manufacturers		9,492													615																	1
Lorillard Tobacco as defendant		8,562			1							0			31							4										1		42
Number of years for which the defendants must provide data																														10 years
Lorillard Inc. as co-defendant		683							676			5			0			0				2												1
Trials Underway									0			0																						1
Number of additional filter cases in which parent is defendant but which subsidiary is not defendant																																		2
Lights cases pending against other manufacturers, excluding Lorillard																						25
Medical Monitoring Class Action cases																						2
Cases scheduled for trial															0			0																10
Cases where punitive damages were paid excluding subsidiary or parent company														7
Verdict returned against other cigarette manufacturers									50					7
Compensatory damages awarded											$ 50,000,000
Damages paid to deceased smoker's son											21,000,000
Punitive damages awarded						7,000,000		150,000,000,000			81,000,000
Application fees			2,400,000
Number of Remaining Trails														6
Additional cases to be filed																		0
Trials for other cigarette manufacturers in which jury founded in favor of plaintiffs												2
Damages awarded												1
Cases filed by family members							500
Number of cases where actual damages awarded at Florida Supreme Court						2
Actual and punitive damages were paid in Engle Progeny Cases									20
Punitive damages award in cases against other cigarette manufacturers									600,000,000
Minimum punitive damages award in one of the twelve cases against other cigarette manufacturers									50,000
Maximum punitive damages award in one of the cases against other cigarette manufacturers									244,000,000
Contested verdicts without final resolution									18
Actual damages reinstated by the Florida Supreme Court									12,000,000
Maximum security deposit for Engle Progeny cases									200,000,000
Cases denied plaintiffs challenges									0
Prescribed limits of security posted or deposited based on the number of judgments pending on appeal									Does not exceed $200 million
Actual damages paid								3
Cases re-trials ordered by appellate courts												2
Amount awarded in punitive damages												4,000,000
Lorillard Tobacco or Lorillard Inc as defendant					2				5,900			33			38			2,586				4										1		43
Number of Cases where Lorillard Tobacco paid to resolve claims																																		70
Reinstated the compensatory damages awards by Florida Supreme Court								2
Percentage of Interest on Damages Awarded													12.00%
Cases consolidated for trial																1,250
Lorillard Tobacco has been dismissed from cases in lack of evidence against them																580
Number of plaintiffs involved in Severed IPIC claims															30
Lorillard Tobacco's share						3,000,000											60,000
Number of plaintiffs asserting both claims															28
Defendant Prevailed																		7
Court granted plaintiff's motion for a new trial																		1
Damages awarded to plaintiff for French v. Philip Morris Incorporated																		5,500,000
Damages reduced by trial court for French v. Philip Morris Incorporated																	500,000
Number of cases in which Lorillard Inc. is a co-defendant																						2
Cigarette manufacturers defeated motions for class certification in cases																						36
Class action cases defeated in state court																						13
Class action cases defeated in federal court																						23
Percentage of damages award from fund claimed by plaintiff counsel																										40.00%	33.00%
Trial Court order to pay to fund a court supervised cessation program																			69,700,000
Order to pay in phase II to fund cessation program																									591,000,000
Struck an award of prejudgment interest total																								440,000,000
Amount reduced by Louisiana Court in Scott case																							328,000,000
Pretax provision for appeal in Scott case																				66,000,000
Number of cases of fraudulent marketing where company or subsidiary not defendant																					25
Attorneys fees value on basis of age of case claimed by counsel																					92,000,000
Attorneys fees claimed by plaintiff counsel																					59,000,000
Multiplier description requested by plaintiff counsel																					a multiplier as high as seven be applied to any award ordered by the court
Damages award claimed by plaintiff counsel minimum																					300,000,000
Plaintiff's counsel cost and expenses																					13,400,000
Cigarette Manufacturers companies and Trade associations as defendants																		3
The cost of compliance to Lorillard Tobacco																												10,000,000		10,000,000
Amount claimed to recover profits earned by defendants																																280,000,000,000
Number of states involved in Master Settlement Agreement					46																												46
Pretax charges for obligations under state settlement agreements																												276,000,000	300,000,000	1,289,000,000	1,212,000,000
Annual payment by domestic tobacco industry																												10,400,000,000		10,400,000,000
Cap on plaintiffs attorneys fees paid by domestic tobacco industry																												500,000,000		500,000,000
Additional amount paid for plaintiffs attorneys fees																												125,000,000		125,000,000
Trust fund payable to compensate tobacco growing communities																												5,200,000,000		5,200,000,000
Number of states having tobacco growing communities to be compensated by "Trust"																												14		14
Number of Missouri hospitals or hospital districts																																37
Compensation to tobacco quota holders and tobacco growers																												10,100,000,000		10,100,000,000
Number of cases in which Lorillard Tobacco or Lorillard Inc is a defendant																																		42
Number of multidistrict litigation cases dismissed by plaintiffs	13
Number of multidistrict litigation cases pending dismissed by plaintiffs	4
Lorillard Inc. as Defendant																																		2
Offers of judgment for pending cases																	15,000
Offers of judgment for other cases																	2,650
Amount sought in sanctions																	30,000,000
Payment made in settlement																																		18,500,000
Percentage of interest rate in sanctions																	9.00%
Verdicts returned																		8																3
Compensatory damages and damages for loss of consortium																																		1,100,000
Manufacturers violated the Federal Sherman Antitrust Act					19
Number of states involved in Tobacco-Related Antitrust Indirect Purchasers Suits					20
Loews as co-defendant				2
Indirect purchaser suits dismissed by courts					4
Number of state and territorial attorneys general involved in MSA-Related Antitrust Suit					52
Days to Execute MSA					90 days
Lorillard Tobacco as a defendant in Severed IPIC Claims															7
Cases are concluded																		6
Indirect purchaser suits					30
Number of plaintiffs involved in Severed IPIC claims using only other tobacco products in which neither Lorillard Inc nor Lorillard Tobacco are Defendants															2
Number of claims severed into separate lawsuits										4,400
Cases dismissed																630
Total no of individuals whose claims were heard during the first phase of the Engle trial								3
Reduce in jury's damages awards and reduce in verdicts to deceased smoker													25,000,000
Reduce in jury's damages awards and reduce in verdicts to deceased smoker's son													10,000,000
Number of damage awards filed													3
Litigation cost and fees to company																																					246,000
Attorney costs awarded by Court			225,000
Number of Remaining Trails in favor of defendants												4
Number of trails concluded												2
Damages paid to plaintiffs in individual cases by manufacturers												12
Punitive damages paid to smokers												5
Number of cases dismissed							1,200
Number of verdicts in which plaintiffs were awarded damages									3
Number of cases reviewed by Florida Supreme Court									4
Number of rulings issued by Florida intermediate courts of appeal									2
Number of verdicts returned									7
Number of compensatory damages awarded									5
Jury portion of fault for smokers injuries to smokers																																								60.00%
Jury apportion of fault for smoker's injuries to smokers																																			35.00%	45.00%	95.00%	70.00%	91.00%
Jury apportion of fault for smoker's injuries to Lorillard Tobacco																																								20.00%
Percentage of fault of company for injuries																																			65.00%	5.00%	5.00%	10.00%	3.00%
Final judgment of verdict and awarded plaintiff in compensatory damages																																								1,000,000
Punitive damages awarded to plaintiff in final judgment																																			11,300,000
Compensatory damages awarded to plaintiff in final judgment																																			3,900,588	225,000	11,250	109,298	4,500
Final judgment of annual interest																																			6.00%			6.00%
Jury apportion of fault for smoker's injuries to other defendants																																						20.00%	3.00%	20.00%
Percentage of fault of other defendants for injuries																																				50.00%
Damages awarded to plaintiffs for loss of companionship																																						400,000
Compensatory Damages Awarded To Plaintiff																																			6,000,000	4,500,000	225,000	692,981	150,000
Compensatory damages awarded in punitive																																			$ 11,300,000
Annual interest rate on damages awarded in final judgment																																				6.00%
Description of additional portion of award paid in final judgment																			one-fourth of the award