Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Statements of Operations (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 360,760	$ 347,236
Expenses:
Cost of sales	242,018	239,037
Operating, selling, administrative and general expenses	73,944	63,977
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	843	1,500
Management fee expense	0	0
Operating income	43,955	42,722
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	(31,746)	(35,453)
Change in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	6,460	(1,650)
Acceleration of interest expense related to debt conversion	0	(3,679)
Equity income from real estate ventures	338	1,552
Gain (loss) on sale of investment securities available for sale	13,029	(53)
Equity (loss) income on long-term investments	(37)	906
Equity income in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Management fee income	0	0
Other, net	1,896	2,126
Income before provision for income taxes	33,895	6,471
Income tax benefit (expense)	(12,679)	(2,942)
Net income	21,216	3,529
Net income attributed to non-controlling interest	(260)	(949)
Net income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	20,956	2,580
Comprehensive income attributed to non-controlling interest	(260)	(949)
Comprehensive income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	22,955	7,888
Parent/Issuer [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	0	0
Expenses:
Cost of sales	0	0
Operating, selling, administrative and general expenses	6,957	6,283
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	0	0
Management fee expense	0	0
Operating income	(6,957)	(6,283)
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	(30,754)	(34,782)
Change in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	6,460	(1,650)
Acceleration of interest expense related to debt conversion		(3,679)
Equity income from real estate ventures	0	0
Gain (loss) on sale of investment securities available for sale	(146)	(53)
Equity (loss) income on long-term investments	(37)	906
Equity income in consolidated subsidiaries	35,994	28,667
Management fee income	2,562	2,467
Other, net	1,024	698
Income before provision for income taxes	8,146	(13,709)
Income tax benefit (expense)	12,810	17,238
Net income	20,956	3,529
Net income attributed to non-controlling interest	0
Net income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	20,956
Comprehensive income attributed to non-controlling interest	0	0
Comprehensive income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	22,955	7,888
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	228,623	239,192
Expenses:
Cost of sales	157,660	171,713
Operating, selling, administrative and general expenses	21,337	21,685
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	843	1,500
Management fee expense	2,562	2,467
Operating income	46,221	41,827
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	(991)	(955)
Change in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Acceleration of interest expense related to debt conversion		0
Equity income from real estate ventures	0	0
Gain (loss) on sale of investment securities available for sale	13,175	0
Equity (loss) income on long-term investments	0	0
Equity income in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Management fee income	0	0
Other, net	320	260
Income before provision for income taxes	58,725	41,132
Income tax benefit (expense)	(24,181)	(16,639)
Net income	34,544	24,493
Net income attributed to non-controlling interest	0
Net income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	34,544
Comprehensive income attributed to non-controlling interest	0	0
Comprehensive income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	33,656	25,195
Subsidiary Non-Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	132,256	108,044
Expenses:
Cost of sales	84,358	67,324
Operating, selling, administrative and general expenses	45,769	36,009
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	0
Management fee expense	0	0
Operating income	2,129	4,711
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	(1)	(34)
Change in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Acceleration of interest expense related to debt conversion		0
Equity income from real estate ventures	338	1,552
Gain (loss) on sale of investment securities available for sale	0	0
Equity (loss) income on long-term investments	0	0
Equity income in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Management fee income	0	0
Other, net	552	1,486
Income before provision for income taxes	3,018	7,715
Income tax benefit (expense)	(1,308)	(3,541)
Net income	1,710	4,174
Net income attributed to non-controlling interest	(260)
Net income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	1,450
Comprehensive income attributed to non-controlling interest	(260)	(949)
Comprehensive income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	1,450	3,225
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	(119)	0
Expenses:
Cost of sales	0	0
Operating, selling, administrative and general expenses	(119)	0
Litigation settlement and judgment expense	0
Management fee expense	(2,562)	(2,467)
Operating income	2,562	2,467
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	0	318
Change in fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Acceleration of interest expense related to debt conversion		0
Equity income from real estate ventures	0	0
Gain (loss) on sale of investment securities available for sale	0	0
Equity (loss) income on long-term investments	0	0
Equity income in consolidated subsidiaries	(35,994)	(28,667)
Management fee income	(2,562)	(2,467)
Other, net	0	(318)
Income before provision for income taxes	(35,994)	(28,667)
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0
Net income	(35,994)	(28,667)
Net income attributed to non-controlling interest	0
Net income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	(35,994)
Comprehensive income attributed to non-controlling interest	0	0
Comprehensive income attributed to Vector Group Ltd.	$ (35,106)	$ (28,420)