Looking for some original source references on Law’s Peach Bitters. (Already have messages out to Stephan Berg and Adam Elmegirab, but.) I’m planning a peach aperitif bitters tasting in Detroit (with @Nosestradamus ) next month featuring an antique bottle of the aforementioned, alongside House of Botanicals’ contemporary recreation “Pietro Nicola Pescaro,” Rinquinquin a La Pêche, and something Dutch called Peach Bitters Hoppe. Still seats available….
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Wow! Esoteric. I’ve got nothing at all for you, other than to observe the entire genre seems to have been purely a 20th Century British/Gallic phenomenon. The only mixed drinks references I know of are from English books, except for Charles Baker, and his references he ties to experiences in Ceylon and Athens. Moreover, he takes pains to recommend Cordial Medoc as a good, possibly preferable substitute, at least if you dial back other sweetening.
Somewhere around here, I have (or had) a bottle or two of the briefly-revived Cordial Medoc. I don’t recall anything about it evoking thoughts of peach (or bitters, for that matter), but I’m also unsure the revived version had much to do with the original, either. Murky provenance.
Anyway, bravo!
I have some of that Cordial Médoc as well–and, conversely, I find it to be very peachy and a lovely, subtle accent for a cocktail. I also have some of the Hoppe peach bitters, bought Lord knows how many years ago. I’m not a fan–it’s peachy, but not subtly so and tastes rather artificial.
And yeah, bravo!
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Ah! I should still have some here somewhere, but at the moment, I cannot find it.
Thanks, gents. The Cordial Medoc tasting will come later. I have a couple antique bottles, and a contemporary German recreation which I believe is different from the Czech one that was available a decade ago. If you want to arrange a New York venue, I’ll be there.
Never mind, it’s a creme de noyaux tasting now 
still open to sharing the above bottles at a future date.