Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 380,416	$ 234,466	$ 260,461	$ 405,855
Investment securities available for sale	333,883	172,534
Accounts receivable - trade, net	13,607	12,159
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	100,874	93,496
Deferred income taxes	25,540	50,479
Income taxes receivable, net	14,812	0
Restricted assets	2,780	1,785
Other current assets	34,226	23,392
Total current assets	906,138	588,311
Property, plant and equipment, net	86,622	79,258
Real estate held for sale, net	10,643	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	32,239	20,788
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	13,977	8,595
Investments in real estate ventures	154,281	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	12,063	11,981
Deferred income taxes	70,316	51,474
Goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, net	268,141	271,111
Prepaid pension costs	28,165	26,080
Other assets	60,798	53,553
Total assets	1,643,383	1,260,264	1,120,955
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	101,158	151,577
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	2,996	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	10,845	10,260
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	20,010	18,655
Income taxes payable, net	3,174	6,423
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	861	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	94,897	84,658
Deferred income taxes	57,763	45,734
Accrued interest	17,721	21,968
Other current liabilities	34,256	34,147
Total current liabilities	344,620	405,110
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	857,107	540,766
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	180,474	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	48,608	47,917
Deferred income taxes	165,726	137,650
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	54,715	57,496
Total liabilities	1,651,250	1,281,873
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(89,990)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	82,123	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	(7,867)	(21,609)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,643,383	1,260,264
Parent/Issuer [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	257,309	151,342	249,851	401,344
Investment securities available for sale	274,249	114,886
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	472	509
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	21,497	45,578
Income taxes receivable, net	23,429	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	478	513
Total current assets	577,434	312,828
Property, plant and equipment, net	2,896	3,641
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	31,541	20,041
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	13,977	8,595
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	478,744	410,442
Restricted assets	1,707	1,895
Deferred income taxes	56,586	35,000
Goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	47,873	38,374
Total assets	1,210,758	830,816
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	88,169	112,275
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	2,996	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	902	1,509
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	0	16,870
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	44,164	32,309
Accrued interest	17,721	21,968
Other current liabilities	5,131	6,103
Total current liabilities	159,083	210,162
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	847,318	524,182
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	180,474	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	32,562	31,462
Deferred income taxes	80,046	65,759
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	1,265	1,353
Total liabilities	1,300,748	925,852
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(89,990)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(89,990)	(95,036)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,210,758	830,816
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	19,498	11,812	9,884	3,776
Investment securities available for sale	59,634	57,648
Accounts receivable - trade, net	11,231	10,154
Intercompany receivables	158	0
Inventories	100,874	93,496
Deferred income taxes	4,043	4,901
Income taxes receivable, net	0	10,447
Restricted assets	1,366	1,060
Other current assets	12,676	12,579
Total current assets	209,480	202,097
Property, plant and equipment, net	62,940	55,093
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	10,356	10,086
Deferred income taxes	8,174	12,766
Goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, net	107,511	107,511
Prepaid pension costs	28,165	26,080
Other assets	10,595	10,126
Total assets	437,221	423,759
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	12,781	39,013
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	4,778	4,136
Intercompany payables	0	39
Accrued promotional expenses	20,010	18,655
Income taxes payable, net	11,791	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	861	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	94,897	84,658
Deferred income taxes	13,599	13,425
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	9,232	10,495
Total current liabilities	168,888	182,981
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	9,517	12,573
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	16,046	16,455
Deferred income taxes	39,867	37,602
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	51,133	54,924
Total liabilities	285,451	304,535
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	151,770	119,224
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	151,770	119,224
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	437,221	423,759
Subsidiary Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	103,609	71,312	726	735
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	2,376	2,005
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income taxes receivable, net	0	0
Restricted assets	1,414	725
Other current assets	21,072	10,300
Total current assets	128,471	84,342
Property, plant and equipment, net	20,786	20,524
Real estate held for sale, net	10,643	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	698	747
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in real estate ventures	154,281	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	5,556	3,708
Goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, net	160,630	163,600
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	2,330	5,053
Total assets	483,395	427,087
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	208	289
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	5,165	4,615
Intercompany payables	630	470
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	0	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	19,893	17,549
Total current liabilities	25,896	22,923
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	272	4,011
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	45,813	34,289
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	2,317	1,219
Total liabilities	74,298	62,442
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	326,974	291,218
Non-controlling interest	82,123	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	409,097	364,645
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	483,395	427,087
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	(630)	(509)
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income taxes receivable, net	(8,617)	(10,447)
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(9,247)	(10,956)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Real estate held for sale, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	(478,744)	(410,442)
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(487,991)	(421,398)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany payables	(630)	(509)
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable, net	(8,617)	(10,447)
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(9,247)	(10,956)
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	0	0
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Total liabilities	(9,247)	(10,956)
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(478,744)	(410,442)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(478,744)	(410,442)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	$ (487,991)	$ (421,398)