Crowe, Ronan Keating toast Irish liquor investment

The Gladiator and LA Confidential star attended the formal opening of the new home for The Muff Liquor Company with Irish singer Ronan Keating in County Donegal.

Crowe and Keating are among the investors in the company, which has signed a distribution deal for the US market.

Crowe said he was "thoroughly impressed with what I've seen" at the new building in Muff.

"Hopefully this is the beginning of a long series of successes for you, for your company," he told chief executive of the company Laura Bonner.

Crowe said he was first attracted to the company because he loves a great story.

Bonner's grandfather Philip, a potato farmer, began experimenting with making vodkas and gin using his own recipe.

After first trying it out on family and friends, it developed to the stage that every Friday afternoon a queue of locals would pass through his farmhouse to pick up a jar of his spirits before the local dance.

"When I heard the story of old Phil and what would happen on a Friday afternoon, I just got really attracted to it," Crowe said.

"And then I tried the product, and that really sealed the idea for me that I had to get involved.

"It is a great product and the story is a fantastic story that will travel from place to place, from country to country. And I just wanted to be part of that."

Crowe added: "It's a romantic idea, isn't it? A potato farmer looking at what he can do with his rotten potatoes, comes up with a recipe for a drink that appeals to people, and on a Friday afternoon a few drop in and fill up their receptacles, I just think it's a brilliant story of community," he said to laughter.

Keating said: "Russell and I had been chatting for quite some time about getting involved in different liquor brands, it had become a trendy thing.

"I got a call one day, he was here in Ireland shooting a film, and he just said, 'I've found it'.

"'Found what?' 'I found what we've been looking for'.

"'The Muff men' was created and it's been a hell of a lot of fun. When Rusty calls, we step up to the plate."

Australian Associated Press