Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended																		9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett Only Cases [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Tobacco Litigation Personal Injury Cases [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Parsons v. AC & S Inc. [Member] defendant	Jul. 31, 2000 Engle Case Class Action [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Hess Case [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett and Vector Tobacco [Member] NPM Adjustment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett and Vector Tobacco [Member] NPM Adjustment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Florida [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] New York [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Maryland [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Louisiana [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] West Virginia [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Missouri [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Ohio [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] West Virginia State Court Cases [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Individual Actions [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Class Actions [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Price Fixing [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Tobacco Litigation Personal Injury Cases [Member] case verdict	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Gross Versus Net Dispute [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Liggett [Member] Gross Versus Net Dispute [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Putney, Tullo, Calloway, Buchanan, Cohen and Rizzuto [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Settlement [Member]	Oct. 23, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] plaintiff	Oct. 31, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case	Dec. 31, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case	Jun. 30, 2009 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Cases Settled without Litigation [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Cases Settled without Litigation [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Cases Settled without Litigation [Member] case	May 31, 2013 Liggett [Member] Engle Case Class Action [Member] plaintiff	May 31, 2003 Liggett [Member] Engle Case Class Action [Member] plaintiff	Jul. 31, 2000 Liggett [Member] Engle Case Class Action [Member]	Apr. 30, 2000 Liggett [Member] Engle Case Class Action [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Tullo v R J Reynolds [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett [Member] Lukacs, Campbell, Douglas, Clay, Ward and Rizzuto [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett Only Cases [Member] Individual Actions [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett Only Cases [Member] Engle Case Class Action [Member] case	Sep. 30, 2014 Liggett Only Cases [Member] Lambert v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Pending Litigation [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Engle Progeny Cases [Member] case	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Engle Progency Cases Excluding Lukacs [Member] Minimum [Member] case	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Engle Progency Cases Excluding Lukacs [Member] Maximum [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Lukacs v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Campbell v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Douglas v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Clay v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Putney v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Tullo v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Ward v R J Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Calloway v RJ Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Calloway v RJ Reynolds [Member] Joint and Several Judgment [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Buchanan v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Buchanan v. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Joint and Several Judgment [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Cohen v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Rizzuto v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Irimi v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] Lambert v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]	Oct. 27, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett Only Cases [Member] Rizzuto v. R.J. Reynolds [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Percentage of Total Cigarettes Sold That Exceeds Market Share Exemption																											1.25%	1.645%
Legal expenses and other litigation costs												$ 7,282,000	$ 7,334,000																	$ 86,213,000
Bonds												5,093,000
Bond cap																																			200,000,000
Number of cases settled and dismissed																																4,900				4,900	0	144												19
Number of plaintiff verdicts																									30															1											13
Number of defense verdicts																																								2											6
Payments for legal settlements																																											272,000	20,040,000
Term case tried prior to final decision									12 years																																													7 years
Amount of litigation settlement								145,000,000,000																							110,000,000							1,170,000			790,000,000	12,704,000						28,804,000	10,826,000			1,000	3,600,000	12,418,000	156,000	1,350,000	349,000	3,008,000	225,000	1,000	1,947,000	16,100,000	2,035,000	5,500,000	205,000	3,479,000	31,000	3,600,000	1,500,000
Cases with punitive damages																																																				3
Cases pending					5	750								30	8	4	2	2	1	1	100	48	4	1	100	1					330														3	2
Damages awarded																																															13,100,000
Damages paid																																																(17,978,000)
Punitive damages																																																18,100,000	17,100,000								1,000,000				7,600,000							9,500,000
Punitive damages paid																																																(1,000,000)
Minimum loss exposure																													0
Maximum loss exposure																													27,926,000
Number of plaintiffs																																							3
Settlement consideration paid in lump sum																															61,600,000
Settlement consideration paid in equal monthly installments over next 15 years																															48,000,000
Settlement consideration installment payments term																															14 years
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	225,000	87,913,000	1,725,000	87,913,000																													86,213,000
Litigation settlement and judgement expense, amount discounted																															25,213,000
Discount rate																															11.00%
Expected payments yearly for 2014 through 2017																															3,500,000
Over turned judgment																																								5,831,000
Gain (loss) related to litigation settlement										6,947,000
Accrued expense for this matter											25,809,000																8,500,000
Claims scheduled for trial																																		16
Damages sought							$ 1,000,000
Number of defendants							3