Contingencies (Engle Progeny Cases and Settlement) (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended								3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) case	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) case	Feb. 28, 2015	Oct. 31, 2013 USD ($) case	May 31, 2003 USD ($) plaintiff	Jul. 31, 2000 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2000 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 1999 plaintiff	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) case	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) case	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 07, 2016 USD ($)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Litigation settlement and judgment expense									$ 102			$ 0	$ 1,687	$ 2,350
Engle Progeny Cases
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of plaintiffs | plaintiff								3
Compensatory damages awarded							$ 12,704
Punitive damages awarded						$ 145,000,000
Number of favorable plaintiff verdicts | plaintiff					1
Damages awarded and subsequently overturned					$ 5,831
Number of unfavorable plaintiff verdicts | plaintiff					2
Liggett
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cases pending | case	2								2				2
Liggett | Engle Progeny Cases
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Punitive damages awarded						$ 790,000
Cases settled | case	9	124		4,900
Amount of litigation settlement awarded to other party	$ 1,400	$ 17,650		$ 110,000
Litigation settlement amount paid in lump sum		$ 14,000		61,600
Litigation settlement, installment term			14 years
Litigation settlement and judgment expense				86,213						$ 1,400	$ 17,650
Litigation settlement and judgment expense, amount discounted				$ 25,000
Discount rate				11.00%
Litigation settlement amount paid in installment payments				$ 48,000											$ 3,650
Litigation settlement, interest rate on installment payments due															5.00%
Litigation settlement amount of estimated future payments per annum				$ 3,400
Liggett | Lukacs, Campbell, Douglas, Clay, Tullo, Ward Rizzuto, Lambert and Buchanan
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Payments for legal settlements													$ 39,773
Liggett and Vector Tobacco | Engle Progeny Cases
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cases settled | case									3				182
Amount of litigation settlement awarded to other party													$ 6,300
Cases pending | case	105								105				105