Manhattan bar at The Regent Singapore cemented its status as Asia's top bar, retaining its top spot in the annual ranking of Asia's 50 Best Bars for the second year running.

The list was announced at an awards ceremony held at Capitol Theatre last night. It was the first time a ceremony was held to announce the list.

Indulge Experimental Bistro in Taipei claimed the second spot, while Shanghai's Speak Low took third place.

Eleven other bars from the Republic made the list. But China, which also had 12 bars on the list, ties with Singapore as cocktail capital of Asia. The country with the next highest number of entries was Japan, which had eight entries, followed by Thailand with six, and South Korea with four.

While there were no new entries from Singapore, a number of past winners moved to higher positions. Among the biggest climbers were Atlas at Parkview Square, which rose eight places to No. 4, and Native in Amoy Street, which rose 12 places to No. 8. Native's head bartender, Mr Vijay Mudaliar, won the Bartenders' Bartender award.

Tippling Club, which came in at No.7, up from last year's 11th spot, rounds out the Singapore bars that made the top 10.

Singapore bars outside the top 10 dropped in rankings. These were 28 HongKong Street (No. 12), Operation Dagger (No. 19), Gibson (No. 22), Employees Only (No. 23), D.bespoke (No. 32), Nutmeg & Clove (No. 33), Jigger & Pony (No. 42) and The Other Room (No. 50).

Sugarhall, which placed No. 38 last year, did not make the cut this time.

Asia's 50 Best Bars has been published annually since 2016, based on votes from more than 200 industry experts across Asia's bar scene. Yesterday's inaugural awards ceremony was attended by about 500 of the region's top bartenders, bar owners and industry figures.

The list is published by William Reed Business Media, which also organises the annual World's 50 Best Bars Awards, The World's 50 Best Restaurants and Asia's 50 Best Restaurants lists.