Philadelphia Fish House Punch

Preparation

1. Arrange 2 cups sliced fresh (or frozen, thawed) peaches and 12 thyme sprigs along the bottom of a 10-12-cup Bundt pan. Fill pan with cold water and freeze to make an ice ring. Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and 1 1/4 cups water in a jar; cover and shake to dissolve to make simple syrup. DO AHEAD: Ice ring and simple syrup can be made 2 weeks ahead. Keep ice ring frozen. Chill simple syrup. Pour simple syrup into a large wide container or a punch bowl. Add 1 liter (4 1/4 cups) Jamaican gold rum (such as Appleton Estate), 2 cups Cognac, 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice, and 1 cup peach liqueur (such as Bols). Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. Add 6 cups cold water to punch; stir gently to blend. Remove ice ring from Bundt pan and float, rounded side up, in punch. Ladle into glasses filled with ice.