Equity Method Investment, Number of Shares Owned, Common

No definition available.

Name:	mo_EquityMethodInvestmentNumberofSharesOwnedCommon
Namespace Prefix:	mo_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Equity Method Investment, Number of Shares Owned, Restricted

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mo_EquityMethodInvestmentNumberofSharesOwnedRestricted
Namespace Prefix:	mo_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Equity Method Investments, Dividend Rate Rebase

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mo_EquityMethodInvestmentsDividendRateRebase
Namespace Prefix:	mo_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents an other than temporary decline in value that has been recognized against an investment accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The excess of the carrying amount over the fair value of the investment represents the amount of the write down which is or was reflected in earnings. The written down value is a new cost basis with the adjusted value of the investment becoming its new carrying value subject to the equity accounting method. Evidence of a loss in value might include, but would not necessarily be limited to, absence of an ability to recover the carrying amount of the investment or inability of the investee to sustain an earnings capacity which would justify the carrying amount of the investment.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 35
-Paragraph 32
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001220&loc=d3e32787-111569

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOtherThanTemporaryImpairment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114001798&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109237563&loc=d3e33749-111570

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 25
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8813-108599

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value portion of investments accounted under the equity method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66022186&loc=d3e32014-111567

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentsFairValueDisclosure
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=mo_ABInBevMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Investment in AB InBev (Details) - USD ($) shares in Millions		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 25, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Carrying value of equity investment		$ 17,825,000,000	$ 17,952,000,000
AB InBev [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Ownership percentage		10.10%
Number of restricted shares owned (in shares)		185
Number of ordinary shares owned (in shares)		12
Fair value of equity investment		$ 17,200,000,000	22,100,000,000
Carrying value of equity investment		17,800,000,000	$ 18,000,000,000
Impairment of equity investment		$ 0
Subsequent Event [Member] \| AB InBev [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Fair value of equity investment	$ 14,500,000,000
Equity Method Investments, Dividend Rate Rebase	50.00%