Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	48 Months Ended	50 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended														1 Months Ended				9 Months Ended								1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett [Member] plaintiffs	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Liggett [Member]	Jul. 31, 2000 Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member]	Oct. 23, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] plaintiffs cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases plaintiffs	Dec. 31, 2012 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Mar. 31, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Jun. 30, 2009 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Liggett [Member]	Oct. 23, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] cases plaintiffs	Oct. 30, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] Liggett [Member] plaintiffs	Oct. 23, 2013 Engle Progeny Cases [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] State Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 State Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Federal Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Progency Cases Excluding Lukacs [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Clay v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Calloway v RJ Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Non-Engle Progency Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 West Virginia State Court Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Florida [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 New York [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Maryland [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Louisiana [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 West Virginia [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Missouri [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Ohio [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	May 31, 2003 Engle Case Class Action [Member] Liggett [Member] plaintiffs cases	Jul. 31, 2000 Engle Case Class Action [Member] Liggett [Member]	Apr. 30, 2000 Engle Case Class Action [Member] Liggett [Member] plaintiffs	Sep. 30, 2013 Engle Case Class Action [Member] Liggett Only Cases [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Campbell v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Putney v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Tullo v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Ward v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Buchanan v. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Cohen v. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Rizzuto v. R.J. Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Douglas v R J Reynolds [Member] Liggett [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Lukacs case [Member] Liggett [Member]	Jun. 30, 2002 Lukacs case [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Lukacs case [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Liggett Only Cases [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Individual Actions [Member] Liggett Only Cases [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Class Actions [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Price Fixing [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Parsons v. AC & S Inc. [Member] defendants	Sep. 30, 2013 Tobacco Litigation Personal Injury Cases [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Tobacco Litigation Personal Injury Cases [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] Liggett [Member] cases	Sep. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] Engle Progency Cases Excluding Lukacs [Member] Liggett [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] Engle Progency Cases Excluding Lukacs [Member] Liggett [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cases pending												4,187	4,187				430			2,982	1,205				64	100	45	9	3	3	2	1	1				2												5	3	4	1		750	100	1
Settlements of litigation											4,900		148				4,900		3,700	14	1	15
Defense Verdicts																						5												2
Damages awarded								$ 145,000,000,000					$ (1,154,000)										$ 349,000	$ 1,947,000											$ 790,000,000	$ 12,704,000		$ 156,000	$ 3,008,000	$ 225,000	$ 1,000	$ 2,035,000	$ 205,000	$ 3,479,000	$ 1,350,000			$ 12,418,000									$ 1,000	$ 3,479,000
Cases including punitive damages																						2
Punitive damages																							1,000,000	7,600,000
Number of State Cases Tried to Verdict														89
Number of Federal Cases Tried to Verdict															13
Cases with adverse verdicts													7
Minimum loss exposure																						0
Maximum loss exposure					36,200,000	36,200,000																18,500,000
Number of plaintiffs					5,342																															3
Term of contingent settlement																	90 days
Term of contingent settlement requirements																	60 days
Settlement consideration																	110,000,000
Settlement consideration paid in lump sum																	61,000,000
Settlement consideration paid in equal monthly installments over next 15 years																	49,000,000
Settlement consideration installment payments term																	14 years
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	87,913,000	0	87,913,000	0					1,700,000	1,700,000		86,213,000								86,213,000		0																							2,000,000
Litigation settlement and judgement expense, amount discounted																	25,213,000
Discount rate																	11.00%
Expected payments yearly for 2014 through 2017																	3,483,000
Expected payments 2018 and thereafter																	35,068,000
Plaintiffs verdicts												11	11									10												1
Over turned judgment																																		5,831,000
Number of plaintiffs in cases												5,342	5,342
Judgment entered																								16,100,000																	487,000	5,500,000
Term case tried prior to final decision																																														7 years
Period between trial and final verdict																																															5 years
Number of Cases Set for Trial																																																	1
Gain (loss) related to litigation settlement									86,213,000	86,213,000
Accrued expense for this matter																																													2,000,000
Claims scheduled for trial												30	30
Number of plantiffs agreed to settle claims																		23
Number of Cases Pending Appeal																					800
Damages sought																																																					1,000,000
Legal expenses and other litigation costs						7,334,000	6,006,000
Bonds					6,587,000	6,587,000
Number of defendants																																																					3
Bond cap																$ 200,000,000